pocket constitution

8/6/2019 Pocket Constitution

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Te time has come to act.May future generations look back on our workand say that these were men and women who,

in a moment of great crisis, stood upto the politicians, the opinion-molders,

and the establishment, and saved their country.

Congressman Ron Paul

www.CampaignForLiberty.com


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REMARKS ON THE CONSTITUTIONBy U.S. Congressman Ron Paul

September 23, 2004

On the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives

Te U.S. Constitution is the most unique and best contractever drawn up between a people and their government inhistory. Tough flawed from the beginning, because all men areflawed, it nevertheless has served us well and set an example

for the entire world. Yet no matter how hard the authors tried,the corrupting influence of power was not thwarted by theConstitution.

Te notion of separate state and local government,championed by the followers of Jefferson, was challengedby the Hamiltonians almost immediately following the

ratification of the Constitution. Early on, the supporters ofstrong centralized government promoted central banking, easycredit, protectionism/mercantilism, and subsidies for corporateinterests.

Although the 19thCentury generally was kind to the intentof the Constitution, namely limiting government power, a

major setback occurred with the Civil War and the severeundermining of the principle of sovereign states. Te CivilWar profoundly changed the balance of power in our federalistsystem, paving the way for centralized big government.

Although the basic principle underlying the constitutionalrepublic we were given was compromised in the post-Civil

War period, it was not until the 20thCentury that steady andsignificant erosion of the constitutional restraints placed on thecentral government occurred. Tis erosion adversely affectednot only economic and civil liberties, but foreign affairs as well.

We now have persistent abuse of the Constitution by theexecutive, legislative, and judicial branches. Our leaders in

Washington demonstrate little concern for the rule of law,liberty, and our republican form of government.

oday the pragmatism of the politicians, as they spend more


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than $2 trillion annually, creates legislative chaos. Te vulturesconsume the carcass of liberty without remorse. On thecontrary, we hear politicians brag incessantly about their ability

to deliver benefits to their districts, thus qualifying themselvesfor automatic re-election.

Te real purpose of the Constitution was the preservationof liberty. Its not the Constitution that gives us our freedom;that comes from the Creator. But if we cherish freedom, theConstitution is needed to keep the power seekers from usurping

that freedom and to hold government in check.But our government ignores this while spending endlessly,

taxing, and regulating. Te complacent electorate, who are ledto believe their interests and needs are best cared for by a hugebureaucratic welfare state, convince themselves that enormousfederal deficits and destructive inflation can be dealt with

another day.Te answer to the dilemma of unconstitutional government

and runaway spending is simple: restore a burning convictionin the hearts and minds of the people that freedom works andgovernment largesse is a fraud. When the people once againregain their confidence in the benefits of liberty and demand

it from their elected leaders Congress will act appropriately.Te response of honorable men and women who represent

us should be simply to take their oaths of office seriously, voteaccordingly, and return our nation to its proper republicanorigins. Te results would be economic prosperity, greaterpersonal liberty, honest money, abolition of the Internal

Revenue Service, and a work made more peaceful when weabandon the futile policy of building and policing an Americanempire.

No longer would we yield our sovereignty to internationalorganizations that act outside the restraints placed ongovernment by the Constitution.

Te Constitution and those who have sworn to uphold itare not perfect, and its understandable that abuse occurs. But


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it shouldnt be acceptable. Without meticulous adherenceto the principle of the rule of law, minor infractions becomecommonplace and the Constitution loses all meaning.

Unfortunately that is where we are today. Tis nonsense thatthe Constitution is a living, flexible document, taught as gospelin our government schools, must be challenged. Te Founderswere astute enough to recognize the Constitution was notperfect and wisely permitted amendments to the documentbut they correctly made the process tedious, and thus difficult.

Without a renewed love for liberty and confidence in itsresults, it will be difficult if not impossible to restore once againthe rule of law under the Constitution.

I have heard throughout my life how each upcoming electionis the most important election ever, and how the very future ofour country is at stake. Tose fears have always been grossly

overstated. Te real question is not who will achieve a partisanvictory. Te real question is will we once again accept the clearrestraints placed on the power of the national government bythe Constitution.

Obviously the jury is still out on this issue. However, whatwe choose to do about this constitutional crisis is the most

important election of our times, and the results will determinethe kind of society our children will inherit. I believe itsworthwhile for all of us to tirelessly pursue the preservation ofthe elegant Constitution with which we have been so blessed.

Congressman Ron Paul of Texas is the leading spokesman inWashington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, freemarkets, and a return to sound monetary policies.

He never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure isexpressly authorized by the Constitution.

Dr. Pauls consistent voting record prompted one Congressman tocomment that Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers ideal of the

citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never becompromised, and they never are.


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Sometimes it is said that man cannotbe trusted with the government of himself.

Can he, then, be trusted with the governmentof others? Or have we found angels

in the form of kings to govern him?Let history answer this question.

Tomas Jefferson



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THE DECLARATION OFINDEPENDENCE

Action of Second Continental Congress,

July 4, 1776.

Te unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America

WHEN in the Course of human events, it becomesnecessary for one people to dissolve the political bands whichhave connected them with another, and to assume among the

powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to whichthe Laws of Nature and of Natures God entitle them, a decentrespect to the opinions of mankind requires that they shoulddeclare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men arecreated equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Libertyand the pursuit of Happiness. Tat to secure these rights,Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their justPowers from the consent of the governed, Tat wheneverany Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, itis the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute

new Government, laying its foundation on such principles andorganizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem mostlikely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed,will dictate that Governments long established should notbe changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly allexperience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to

suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves byabolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But whena long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably thesame Object evinces a design to reduce them under absoluteDespotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off suchGovernment, and to provide new guards for their future security

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; andsuch is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their


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former Systems of Government. Te history of the presentKing of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries andusurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an

absolute yranny over these States. o prove this, let facts besubmitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome andnecessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediateand pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation

till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, hehas utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation oflarge districts of people, unless those people would relinquishthe right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimableto them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual,uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their PublicRecords, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliancewith his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, foropposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of

the people.He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to

cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers,incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at largefor their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposedto all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions

within.He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States;

for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization ofForeigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrationshither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations ofLands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusinghis Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.


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He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for thetenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of theirsalaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hitherswarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out theirsubstance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armieswithout the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and

superior to the Civil Power.He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction

foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws;giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:For protecting them, by a mock rial, from Punishment for

any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants ofthese States:

For cutting off our rade with all parts of the world:For imposing axes on us without our Consent:For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of rial by

Jury:

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretendedoffences:

For abolishing the free system of English Laws in aneighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrarygovernment, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it atonce an example and fit instrument for introducing the same

absolute rule into these Colonies:For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most

valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of ourGovernments:

For suspending our own Legislature, and declaringthemselves invested with power to legislate for us in all caseswhatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of


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his Protection and waging War against us.He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our

towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreignMercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation andtyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty andperfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, andtotally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the

high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become theexecutioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselvesby their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and hasendeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, themerciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an

undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for

Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitionshave been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whosecharacter is thus marked by every act which may define ayrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our Brittishbrethren. We have warned them from time to time of attemptsby their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdictionover us. We have reminded them of the circumstances ofour emigration and settlement here. We have appealed totheir native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured

them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow theseusurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connectionsand correspondence. Tey too have been deaf to the voice of

justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce inthe necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them,as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in PeaceFriends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of


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America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to theSupreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions,do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these

Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, Tat these UnitedColonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and IndependentStates; that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the BritishCrown, and that all political connection between them and theState of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; andthat as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy

War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce,and to do all other Acts and Tings which Independent Statesmay of right do.

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm relianceon the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge toeach other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

SIGNERS OF HE UNANIMOUS DECLARAION

According to the Authenticated List printed byOrder of Congress of January 18, 1777

Georgia:Button Gwinnett

Lyman HallGeo. Walton

North Carolina:Wm. Hooper

Joseph HewesJohn Penn

South Carolina:Edward Rutledge

os. Heyward, Jr.omas Lynch, Jr.Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts:John HancockSamuel AdamsJohn Adams

Robert Treat PaineElbridge Gerry

Maryland:Samuel Chase

Wm. Paca

os. StoneCharles Carroll of Carrollton

Virginia:George Wythe

Richard Henry Lee. Jefferson

Benja. Harrisonos. Nelson, Jr.

Francis Lightfoot LeeCarter Braxton

Pennsylvania:Robt. Morris

Benjamin RushBenja. FranklinJohn Morton

Geo. ClymerJas. SmithGeo. Taylor

James WilsonGeo. Ross

Deleware:Caesar Rodney

Geo. Reado. Mckean

New York:Wm. FloydPhil. Livingston

Frans. LewisLewis Morris

New Jersey:Richd. Stockton

Jno. WitherspoonFras. Hopkinson

John HartAbra. Clark

New Hampshire:Josiah BartlettWm. Whipple

Matthew ornton

Rhode Island:Step. HopkinsWilliam Ellery

Connecticut:Roger Sherman

Samuel HuntingtonWm. WilliamsOliver Wolcott


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Te Constitution is not an instrumentfor the government to restrain the people,

it is an instrument for the peopleto restrain the government - lest it come

to dominate our lives and interests.Patrick Henry



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THE CONSTITUTIONOF THE UNITED STATES

Preamble

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a moreperfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic ranquility,provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare,and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and ourPosterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for theUnited States of America.

Article I - e Legislative Branch

Section 1: All legislative Powers herein granted shall bevested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist

of a Senate and House of Representatives.Section 2: Te House of Representatives shall be composed

of Members chosen every second Year by the People of theseveral States, and the Electors in each State shall have theQualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerousBranch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not haveattained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years aCitizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected,be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

[Representatives and direct axes shall be apportionedamong the several States which may be included within this

Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall bedetermined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons,including those bound to Service for a erm of Years, andexcluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.*]Te actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years afterthe first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and

within every subsequent erm of ten Years, in such Manner asthey shall by Law direct. Te Number of Representatives shall

*Changed by section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment.


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not exceed one for every thirty Tousand, but each State shallhave at Least one Representative; and until such enumerationshall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to

chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and ProvidencePlantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jerseyfour, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginiaten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five and Georgiathree.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any

State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs ofElection to fill such Vacancies.

Te House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker andother Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Section 3:Te Senate of the United States shall be composed

of two Senators from each State, [chosen by the Legislaturethereof,*] for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence

of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may beinto three Classes. Te Seats of the Senators of the first Classshall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the

second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of thethird Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one thirdmay be chosen every second Year; [and if Vacancies happen byResignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislatureof any State, the Executive thereof may make temporaryAppointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which

shall then fill such Vacancies.**]No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attainedto the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of theUnited States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitantof that State for which he shall be chosen.

Te Vice President of the United States shall be President

of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equallydivided.

*Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment. **Changed by the Seventeenth Amendment.


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Te Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also aPresident pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President,or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United

States.Te Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments.

When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath orAffirmation. When the President of the United States istried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shallbe convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the

Members present.Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further

than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold andenjoy any Office of honor, rust or Profit under the UnitedStates: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liableand subject to Indictment, rial, Judgment and Punishment,

according to Law.

Section 4: Te imes, Places and Manner of holdingElections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribedin each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress mayat any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to

the Place of Chusing Senators.Te Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, andsuch Meeting shall [be on the first Monday in December,*]unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.

Section 5:Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections,Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority

of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smallernumber may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorizedto compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner,and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings,punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the

Concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member.Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and

*Changed by section 2 of the wentieth Amendment


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from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts asmay in their Judgement require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Naysof the Members of either House on any question shall, at the

Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall,

without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than threedays, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Housesshall be sitting.

Section 6:Te Senators and Representatives shall receivea Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law,and paid out of the reasury of the United States. Tey shallin all Cases, except reason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, beprivileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Sessionof their respective Houses, and in going to and returning fromthe same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, theyshall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the ime forwhich he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office underthe Authority of the United States which shall have beencreated, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increasedduring such time; and no Person holding any Office under the

United States, shall be a Member of either House during hisContinuance in Office.

Section 7: All bills for raising Revenue shall originate inthe House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose orconcur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of

Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become aLaw, be presented to the President of the United States; If heapprove he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with hisObjections to that House in which it shall have originated, whoshall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceedto reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that

House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together withthe Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewisebe reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House,


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it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of bothHouses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Namesof the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on

the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not bereturned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted)after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be aLaw, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congressby their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shallnot be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrenceof the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary(except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented tothe President of the United States; and before the Same shalltake Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved byhim, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House

of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitationsprescribed in the Case of a Bill.

Section 8: Te Congress shall have Power o lay andcollect axes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debtsand provide for the common Defence and general Welfare ofthe United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be

uniform throughout the United States;o borrow money on the credit of the United States;o regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the

several States, and with the Indian ribes;o establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform

Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United

States;o coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreignCoin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

o provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting theSecurities and current Coin of the United States;

o establish Post Offices and Post Roads;o promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by

securing for limited imes to Authors and Inventors theexclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;


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o constitute ribunals inferior to the supreme Court;o define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on

the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

o declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, andmake Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

o raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation ofMoney to that Use shall be for a longer erm than two Years;

o provide and maintain a Navy;o make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the

land and naval Forces;o provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws

of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;o provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the

Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may beemployed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the

States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and theAuthority of training the Militia according to the disciplineprescribed by Congress;

o 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 theConsent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shallbe, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards,and other needful Buildings; And

o make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper forcarrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other

Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of theUnited States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section 9: Te Migration or Importation of such Personsas any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit,shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year onethousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may beimposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars foreach Person.*See the Sixteenth Amendment.


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Te privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not besuspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion thepublic Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.[No capitation, or other direct, ax shall be laid, unless

in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein beforedirected to be taken*]

No ax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from anyState.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerceor Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: norshall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter,clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the reasury, but inConsequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular

Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of allpublic Money shall be published from time to time.No itle of Nobility shall be granted by the United States:

And no Person holding any Office of Profit or rust underthem, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept ofany present, Emolument, Office, or itle, of any kind whatever,from any King, Prince or foreign State.

Section 10:No State shall enter into any reaty, Alliance,or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coinMoney; emit Bills of Credit; make any Ting but gold andsilver Coin a ender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill ofAttainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligationof Contracts, or grant any itle of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay anyImposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what maybe absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: andthe net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any Stateon Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the reasuryof the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the

Revision and Controul of the Congress.No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay anyduty of onnage, keep roops, or Ships of War in time of


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Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with anotherState, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actuallyinvaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Article II - e Executive Branch

Section 1:Te executive Power shall be vested in a Presidentof the United States of America. He shall hold his Office duringthe erm of four Years, and, together with the Vice-Presidentchosen for the same erm, be elected, as follows:

Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislaturethereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to thewhole Number of Senators and Representatives to whichthe State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator orRepresentative, or Person holding an Office of rust or Profitunder the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

[Te Electors shall meet in their respective States, and voteby Ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not lie anInhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shallmake a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Numberof Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, andtransmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United

States, directed to the President of the Senate. Te Presidentof the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House ofRepresentatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shallthen be counted. Te Person having the greatest Number ofVotes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority ofthe whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be morethan one who have such Majority, and have an equal Numberof Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediatelychuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Personhave a Majority, then from the five highest on the List thesaid House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But inchusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, theRepresentation 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

*Changed by the welfth Amendment.


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necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of thePresident, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes ofthe Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should

remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shallchuse from them by Ballot the Vice-President*]

Te Congress may determine the ime of chusing theElectors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes;which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

No person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the

United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution,shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall anyPerson be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained tothe Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Residentwithin the United States.

[In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, orof his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers

and Duties of the said Office, the same shall devolve on theVice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for theCase of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of thePresident and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall thenact as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until theDisability be removed, or a President shall be elected.*]

Te President shall, at stated imes, receive for his Services,a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nordiminished during the Period for which he shall have beenelected, and he shall not receive within that Period any otherEmolument from the United States, or any of them.

Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall takethe following Oath or Affirmation:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully executethe Office of President of the United States, and will to the bestof my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution ofthe United States.

Section 2:Te President shall be Commander in Chief ofthe Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia

of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the

*Changed by the wenty-Fifth Amendment.


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United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of theprincipal Officer in each of the executive Departments, uponany subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices,

and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardonsfor Offenses against the United States, except in Cases ofImpeachment.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consentof the Senate, to make reaties, provided two thirds of theSenators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and

with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appointAmbassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges ofthe 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 mayby Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as theythink proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in

the Heads of Departments.Te President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that

may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by grantingCommissions which shall expire at the End of their nextSession.

Section 3:He shall from time to time give to the Congress

Information of the State of the Union, and recommend totheir Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessaryand expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, conveneboth Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreementbetween them, with Respect to the ime of Adjournment,he may adjourn them to such ime as he shall think proper;he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; heshall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shallCommission all the Officers of the United States.

Section 4: Te President, Vice President and all civilOfficers of the United States, shall be removed from Office onImpeachment for, and Conviction of, reason, Bribery, or otherhigh Crimes and Misdemeanors.


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Te Congress shall have power to declare the Punishment ofreason, but no Attainder of reason shall work Corruptionof Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person

attainted.Article IV - e States

Section 1:Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each Stateto the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of everyother State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribethe Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall

be proved, and the Effect thereof.Section 2:Te Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all

Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.A Person charged in any State with reason, Felony, or other

Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in anotherState, shall on demand of the executive Authority of the State

from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the Statehaving Jurisdiction of the Crime.[No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under

the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequenceof any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from suchService or Labour, But shall be delivered up on Claim of theParty to whom such Service or Labour may be due.*]

Section 3:New States may be admitted by the Congress intothis Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected withinthe Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed bythe Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, withoutthe Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as wellas of the Congress.

Te Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make allneedful Rules and Regulations respecting the erritory orother Property belonging to the United States; and nothingin this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice anyClaims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4:Te United States shall guarantee to every State

in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shallprotect each of them against Invasion; and on Application

*Changed by the Tirteenth Amendment.


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of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislaturecannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Article V - Amendment

Te Congress, whenever two thirds of both Housesshall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to thisConstitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures oftwo thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention forproposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid

to all Intents and Purposes, as part of this Constitution, whenratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States,or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or theother Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress;Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior tothe Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in anyManner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Sectionof the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shallbe deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Article VI - Debts, Supremacy, Oaths

All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, beforethe Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid againstthe United States under this Constitution, as under theConfederation.

Tis Constitution, and the Laws of the United States whichshall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all reaties made, orwhich 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 Ting in the Constitution orLaws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.Te Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the

Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive andjudicial Officers, both of the United States and of the severalStates, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support thisConstitution; but no religious est shall ever be required as aQualification to any Office or public rust under the UnitedStates.


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Article VII - Ratification

Te Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall besufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution betweenthe States so ratifying the Same.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of theStates present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Yearof our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty sevenand of the Independence of the United States of America the

welfth. In Witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed ourNames.

G. WashingtonPresidt.and deputy from Virginia

New Hampshire:John Langdon

Nicholas Gilman

Massachusetts:Nathaniel Gorham

Rufus King

Connecticut:Wm. Saml. Johnson

Roger Sherman

New York:Alexander Hamilton

New Jersey:Wil: LivingstonDavid BrearleyWm. PatersonJona: Dayton

Pennsylvania:B Franklin

omas MifflinRobt MorrisGeo. Clymer

os. FitzSimonsJared IngersollJames Wilson

Gouv Morris

Delaware:Geo: Read

Gunning Bedford junJohn DickinsonRichard BassettJaco: Broom

Maryland:James McHenry

Dan of St os. JeniferDanl Carroll

Virginia:John Blair

James Madison Jr.

North Carolina:Wm. Blount

Richd. Dobbs SpaightHu. Williamson

South Carolina:J. Rutledge

Charles Cotesworth PinckneyCharles Pinckney

Pierce Butler

Georgia:William Few

Abr Baldwin

Attest: William Jackson, Secretary


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IN CONVENTION MONDAYSEPTEMBER 17TH1787.

Presente States of

New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Mr. Hamiltonfrom New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland,Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

Resolved,

Tat the preceeding Constitution be laid before the UnitedStates in Congress assembled, and that it is the Opinion ofthis Convention, that it should afterwards be submitted to a

Convention of Delegates, chosen in each State by the Peoplethereof, under the Recommendation of its Legislature, for theirAssent and Ratification; and that each Convention assentingto, and ratifying the Same, should give Notice thereof to theUnited States in Congress assembled. Resolved, Tat it is theOpinion of this Convention, that as soon as the Conventions

of nine States shall have ratified this Constitution, the UnitedStates in Congress assembled should fix a Day on whichElectors should be appointed by the States which shall haveratified the same, and a Day on which the Electors shouldassemble to vote for the President, and the ime and Place forcommencing Proceedings under this Constitution.


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Tat after such Publication the Electors should be appointed,and the Senators and Representatives elected: Tat the Electorsshould meet on the Day fixed for the Election of the President,

and should transmit their Votes certified, signed, sealed anddirected, as the Constitution requires, to the Secretary of theUnited States in Congress assembled, that the Senators andRepresentatives should convene at the ime and Place assigned;that the Senators should appoint a President of the Senate, forthe sole Purpose of receiving, opening and counting the Votes

for President; and, that after he shall be chosen, the Congress,together with the President, should, without Delay, proceed toexecute this Constitution.

By the unanimous Order of the Convention

G. WASHINGONPresidt.

W. JACKSON Secretary.


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CONGRESS OF THEUNITED STATES*

begun and held at the City of New-York,on Wednesday the fourth of March,

one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine

HE Conventions of a number of the States, having at thetime of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire,in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers,that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should beadded: And as extending the ground of public confidence in

the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of itsinstitution:

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representativesof the United States of America, in Congress assembled, twothirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articlesbe proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as

Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all orany of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the saidLegislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part ofthe said Constitution; viz.t.

ARICLES in addition to, and Amendment of theConstitution of the United States of America, proposed byCongress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States,

pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution....

FREDERICK AUGUSUS MUHLENBERG Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN ADAMS, Vice-President of the United States, and President of the Senate.

AES,

JOHN BECKLEY, Clerk of the House of Representatives.SAM. A. OIS, Secretary of the Senate.

*On September 25, 1789, Congress transmitted to the state legislatures twelve

proposed amendments, two of which, having to do with Congressional representationand Congressional pay, were not adopted. Te remaining ten amendments becamethe Bill of Rights. Te amendment concerning Congressional pay was ratified on May7, 1992, becoming the wenty-Seventh Amendment to the Constitution.


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AMENDMENTSTO THE CONSTITUTION

OF THEUNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Amendment I*

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment ofreligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging

the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the peoplepeaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for aredress 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, shallnot 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

Te right of the people to be secure in their persons,houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches andseizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but

upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, andparticularly describing the place to be searched, and the personsor things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwiseinfamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a

*Te first ten Amendments (the Bill of Rights) were ratified effective December 15, 1791.


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Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, orin the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or publicdanger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to

be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelledin any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor bedeprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;nor shall private property be taken for public use, without justcompensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the rightto a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State anddistrict wherein the crime shall have been committed; whichdistrict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and tobe informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to beconfronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsoryprocess for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have theassistance of counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversyshall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall bepreserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according tothe rules of the common law.

Amendment VIIIExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines

imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

Te enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall

not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by thepeople.


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Amendment X

Te powers not delegated to the United States by theConstitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved tothe States respectively, or to the people.

Amendment XI*

Te Judicial power of the United States shall not be construedto extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecutedagainst one of the United States by Citizens of another State,or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

Amendment XII**

Te Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote byballot 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 asPresident, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, andof the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and

certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of theUnited States, directed to the President of the Senate;TePresident of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate andHouse of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votesshall then be counted;Te person having the greatest numberof votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be

a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and ifno person have such majority, then from the persons having thehighest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those votedfor as President, the House of Representatives shall chooseimmediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing thePresident, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation

from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose*Te Eleventh Amendment was ratified February 7, 1795.**Tewelfth Amendment was ratified June 15, 1804.


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without due process of law; nor deny to any person within itsjurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Section 2.Representatives shall be apportioned among theseveral States according to their respective numbers, countingthe whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indiansnot taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for thechoice of electors for President and Vice President of the UnitedStates, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicialofficers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof,is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, beingtwenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or inany way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or othercrime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced inthe proportion which the number of such male citizens shallbear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years ofage in such State.

Section 3.No person shall be a Senator or Representativein Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, orhold any office, civil or military, under the United States, orunder any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a

member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or asa member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicialofficer of any State, to support the Constitution of the UnitedStates, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion againstthe same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. ButCongress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove

such disability.Section 4. Te validity of the public debt of the United

States, authorized by law, including debts incurred forpayment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressinginsurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neitherthe United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt

or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion againstthe United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipationof any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be


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held illegal and void.

Section 5. Te Congress shall have power to enforce, by

appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.

Amendment XV*

Section 1.Te right of citizens of the United States to voteshall not be denied or abridged by the United States or byany State on account of race, color, or previous condition of

servitude.Section 2. Te Congress shall have power to enforce this

article by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XVI**

Te Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on

incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionmentamong the several States, and without regard to any census orenumeration.

Amendment XVII***

Te Senate of the United States shall be composed of twoSenators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for sixyears; and each Senator shall have one vote. Te electors in eachState shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of themost numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any Statein the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issuewrits of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, Tat thelegislature of any State may empower the executive thereof tomake temporary appointments until the people fill the vacanciesby election as the legislature may direct.

Tis amendment shall not be so construed as to affect theelection or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid

*Te Fifteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1870.**Te Sixteenth Amendment was ratified February 3, 1913.***Te Seventeenth Amendment was ratified April 8, 1913.


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as part of the Constitution.Amendment XVIII*

Section 1. After one year from the ratification of thisarticle the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicatingliquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportationthereof from the United States and all territory subject to the

jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

Section 2.Te Congress and the several States shall have

concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriatelegislation.

Section 3.Te Congress and the several States shall haveconcurrent power to enforce this article by Tis article shall beinoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendmentto the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as

provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the dateof the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.

Amendment XIX**

Te right of citizens of the United States to vote shall notbe 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***

Section 1.Te terms of the President and the Vice Presidentshall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms ofSenators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January,of the years in which such terms would have ended if thisarticle had not been ratified; and the terms of their successorsshall then begin.

*Te Eighteenth Amendment was ratified January 16, 1919. It was repealed bythe wenty-First Amendment, December 5, 1933.**Te Nineteenth Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920.***Te wentieth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1933.


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Section 2.Te Congress shall assemble at least once in everyyear, 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 termof the President, the President elect shall have died, the VicePresident elect shall become President. If a President shall nothave been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of histerm, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then

the Vice President elect shall act as President until a Presidentshall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide forthe case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice Presidentelect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act asPresident, or the manner in which one who is to act shall beselected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President

or Vice President shall have qualified.Section 4.Te Congress may by law provide for the case

of the death of any of the persons from whom the House ofRepresentatives may choose a President whenever the rightof choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case ofthe death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may

choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall havedevolved upon them.

Section 5.Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th dayof October following the ratification of this article.

Section 6. Tis article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by thelegislatures of threefourths of the several States within sevenyears from the date of its submission.

Amendment XXI*

Section 1. Te eighteenth article of amendment to the

Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

*Te wenty-First Amendment was ratified December 5, 1933.


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Section 2.Te transportation or importation into any State,erritory, or Possession of the United States for delivery or usetherein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof,

is hereby prohibited.

Section 3. Tis article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution byconventions 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*

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of thePresident more than twice, and no person who has held theoffice of President, or acted as President, for more than two

years of a term to which some other person was electedPresident shall be elected to the office of President more thanonce. But this Article shall not apply to any person holdingthe office of President when this Article was proposed by theCongress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holdingthe office of President, or acting as President, during the term

within which this Article becomes operative from holding theoffice of President or acting as President during the remainderof such term.

Section 2. Tis article shall be inoperative unless it shallhave been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution bythe legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within

seven years from the date of its submission to the States by theCongress.

Amendment XXIII**

Section 1.Te District constituting the seat of Governmentof the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress

*Te wenty-Second Amendment was ratified February 27, 1951.**Te wenty-Tird Amendment was ratified March 29, 1961.


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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 werea 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 electionof President and Vice President, to be electors appointed bya State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such

duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Section 2. Te Congress shall have power to enforce thisarticle by appropriate legislation.

Amendment XXIV*

Section 1.Te right of citizens of the United States to votein any primary or other election for President or Vice President,for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator orRepresentative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged bythe United States or any State by reason of failure to pay anypoll tax or other tax.


Amendment XXV**

Section 1.In case of the removal of the President from officeor of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become

President.

Section 2.Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of theVice President, the President shall nominate a Vice Presidentwho shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote ofboth Houses of Congress.

Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the

*Te wenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified January 23, 1964.**Te wenty-Fifth Amendment was ratified February 10, 1967.


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President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of theHouse of Representatives his written declaration that he isunable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until

he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, suchpowers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President asActing President.

Section 4.Whenever the Vice President and a majority ofeither the principal officers of the executive departments or of

such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit tothe President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker ofthe House of Representatives their written declaration that thePresident is unable to discharge the powers and duties of hisoffice, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powersand duties of the office as Acting President.

Tereafter, when the President transmits to the Presidentpro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives his written declaration that no inability exists,he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unlessthe Vice President and a majority of either the principalofficers of the executive department or of such other body as

Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to thePresident pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of theHouse of Representatives their written declaration that thePresident is unable to discharge the powers and duties of hisoffice. Tereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assemblingwithin forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.

If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of thelatter 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 thePresident is unable to discharge the powers and duties of hisoffice, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same

as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume thepowers and duties of his office.


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Amendment XXVI*

Section 1.Te right of citizens of the United States, whoare eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be deniedor abridged by the United States or by any State on accountof age.


Amendment XXVII**No law, varying the compensation for the services of the

Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an electionof Representatives shall have intervened.

*Te wenty-Sixth Amendment was ratified July 1, 1971.

**Congress submitted the text of the wenty-Seventh Amendment to the States as part of theproposed Bill of Rights on September 25, 1789. Te Amendment was not ratified together withthe first ten Amendments, which became effective on December 15, 1791. Te wenty-SeventhAmendment was ratified on May 7, 1992, by vote of Michigan.


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Do not separate textfrom historical background.

If you do, you will have pervertedand subverted the Constitution,

which can only end in a distorted, bastardizedform of illegitimate government.

James Madison



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PRINCIPLES OF 98By omas E. Woods, Jr., Ph.D.

Te Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were draftedanonymously by James Madison and Tomas Jefferson,respectively, and were passed by the legislatures of thosestates in 1798. Tey were a response to the constitutionallyoffensive Alien and Sedition Acts of that year, to be sure, butthey were much more than that. Te claims advanced in these

important documents were later assimilated into Americanpolitical culture such that for decades afterward, appeals to thePrinciples of 98 were widely recognized and understood.

Tose principles were straightforward: the federalgovernment possessed only those powers the states haddelegated to it in the Constitution, with the states and the

people retaining for themselves all powers not so delegated.Tis was uncontroversial enough the enth Amendment,after all, said as much. Te controversy derived from the furtherclaim that the states were not bound to enforce any federal lawthat sought to exercise a power not delegated to the federalgovernment. Tis way, the states could resist unconstitutional

laws without needing to have recourse to the more extremeremedy of secession.

Follow-up resolutions in 1799 in Kentucky expresslyintroduced the word nullification removed from the draft ofthe Resolutions of 1798 into the discussion. Madison usedthe word interposition in the Virginia Resolutions. Strained

attempts to make Madison and Jefferson appear to be sayingdifferent things have largely come to naught; there is no obviousdifference between nullifying a law and interposing to preventits enforcement. In a pseudonymous pamphlet (An Expositionof the Virginia Resolutions of 1798) published in 1833, moreover,

Judge Abel Upshur advanced a vigorous argument that the

Virginia Resolutions had indeed proposed nothing short ofnullification.


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Te Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 were notwell received by the other states, which either ignored them or,as in the case of Massachusetts, composed indignant replies.

But actions speak louder than words, and within less than tenyears the Principles of 98 were being invoked by New Englandstates who felt oppressed by the embargo and war policies ofsouthern-born presidents they believed to be out of touch withtheir concerns. In 1814, Massachusetts congressman DanielWebster told the House of Representatives that if the federal

government should introduce military conscription, whichhe considered unconstitutional, then it would be up to theMassachusetts government to interpose its authority in orderto prevent the execution of such an order.

Nullification was not a sudden, ad hoc response on Jeffersonspart to a particular constitutional problem. o the contrary,

the philosophical roots of nullification extend at least to theVirginia Ratifying Convention of 1788. Tere, supporters ofthe Constitution assured skeptics that the federal governmentwould possess only those powers expressly delegated to it, andthat Virginia would be exonerated from any obligations to thenew union of states if that federal government attempted to

exercise any powers beyond these. As the 1790s opened, PatrickHenry reminded his fellow Virginians of these promises ashe denounced Alexander Hamiltons financial policies, whichhe considered unconstitutional. John aylor of Caroline, animportant early constitutional theorist and friend of Jefferson,argued during the 1790s that the state legislatures should

review federal legislation for violations of the Constitution.Te Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were merely theculmination of this line of political thought.

Notwithstanding the Constitutions fugitive-slave clause,opponents of slavery pointed to numerous constitutionaloutrages in the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. In 1859, theWisconsin Supreme Court responded to claims of laxenforcement of the 1850 Act on the part of Wisconsin citizens.


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Its reply consisted of a word-for-word rendition of the KentuckyResolutions of 1798. Te Principles of 98 yet lived.

Tomas E. Woods, Jr., is a senior fellow at the Ludwig vonMises Institute. He holds a bachelors degree in history fromHarvard and his masters, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from ColumbiaUniversity.

He is the author of nine books, including two New Yorkimes bestsellers: Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why theStock Market Collapsed, the Economy anked, and GovernmentBailouts Will Make Tings Worse and Te Politically IncorrectGuide to American History.

His other books include Who Killed the Constitution? Te

Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush(with Kevin R.C. Gutzman), Sacred Ten and Sacred Now: TeReturn of the Old Latin Mass, 33 Questions About AmericanHistory Youre Not Supposed to Ask, How the Catholic ChurchBuilt Western Civilization, and Te Church and the Market: ACatholic Defense of the Free Economy.

His critically acclaimed 2004 book Te Church ConfrontsModernity was recently released in paperback by ColumbiaUniversity Press.

Woods books have been translated into Italian, Spanish,Polish, French, German, Czech, Portuguese, Croatian, Russian,Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

Visit om Woods on the web at www.omWoods.com.


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THE KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONSOF1798

1. Resolved, Tat the several States composing, the UnitedStates of America, are not united on the principle of unlimitedsubmission to their general government; but that, by acompact under the style and title of a Constitution for theUnited States, and of amendments thereto, they constituted ageneral government for special purposes delegated to thatgovernment certain definite powers, reserving, each State toitself, the residuary mass of right to their own self-government;and that whensoever the general government assumesundelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and ofno force: that to this compact each State acceded as a State,and is an integral part, its co-States forming, as to itself, theother party: that the government created by this compact was

not made the exclusive or final judge of the extent of the powersdelegated to itself; since that would have made its discretion,and not the Constitution, the measure of its powers; but that, asin all other cases of compact among powers having no common

judge, each party has an equal right to judge for itself, as well ofinfractions as of the mode and measure of redress.

2. Resolved, Tat the Constitution of the United States,having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason,counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the UnitedStates, piracies, and felonies committed on the high seas,and offenses against the law of nations, and no other crimes,whatsoever; and it being true as a general principle, and oneof the amendments to the Constitution having also declared,

that the powers not delegated to the United States by theConstitution, not prohibited by it to the States, are reservedto the States respectively, or to the people, therefore theact of Congress, passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, andintituled An Act in addition to the act intituled An Act forthe punishment of certain crimes against the United States,as also the act passed by them on the day of June, 1798,intituled An Act to punish frauds committed on the bank ofthe United States, (and all their other acts which assume to


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create, define, or punish crimes, other than those so enumeratedin the Constitution,) are altogether void, and of no force; andthat the power to create, define, and punish such other crimes is

reserved, and, of right, appertains solely and exclusively to therespective States, each within its own territory.

3. Resolved, Tat it is true as a general principle, and isalso expressly declared by one of the amendments to theConstitutions, that the powers not delegated to the UnitedStates by the Constitution, our prohibited by it to the States,

are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people; andthat no power over the freedom of religion, freedom of speech,or freedom of the press being delegated to the United States bythe Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, all lawfulpowers respecting the same did of right remain, and werereserved to the States or the people: that thus was manifestedtheir determination to retain to themselves the right of judging

how far the licentiousness of speech and of the press may beabridged without lessening their useful freedom, and how farthose abuses which cannot be separated from their use shouldbe tolerated, rather than the use be destroyed. And thus alsothey guarded against all abridgment by the United States ofthe freedom of religious opinions and exercises, and retainedto themselves the right of protecting the same, as this State, bya law passed on the general demand of its citizens, had alreadyprotected them from all human restraint or interference. Andthat in addition to this general principle and express declaration,another and more special provision has been made by one ofthe amendments to the Constitution, which expressly declares,that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment

of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridgingthe freedom of speech or of the press: thereby guarding inthe same sentence, and under the same words, the freedom ofreligion, of speech, and of the press: insomuch, that whateverviolated either, throws down the sanctuary which covers theothers, arid that libels, falsehood, and defamation, equally withheresy and false religion, are withheld from the cognizance offederal tribunals. Tat, therefore, the act of Congress of theUnited States, passed on the 14th day of July, 1798, intituled An


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Act in addition to the act intituled An Act for the punishmentof certain crimes against the United States, which does abridgethe freedom of the press, is not law, but is altogether void, and

of no force.4. Resolved, Tat alien friends are under the jurisdiction and

protection of the laws of the State wherein they are: that nopower over them has been delegated to the United States, norprohibited to the individual States, distinct from their powerover citizens. And it being true as a general principle, and one

of the amendments to the Constitution having also declared,that the powers not delegated to the United States by theConstitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved tothe States respectively, or to the people, the act of the Congressof the United States, passed on the day of July, 1798,intituled An Act concerning aliens, which assumes powersover alien friends, not delegated by the Constitution, is not law,

but is altogether void, and of no force.5. Resolved. Tat in addition to the general principle, as

well as the express declaration, that powers not delegatedare reserved, another and more special provision, inserted inthe Constitution from abundant caution, has declared thatthe migration or importation of such persons as any of theStates now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not beprohibited by the Congress prior to the year 1808 that thiscommonwealth does admit the migration of alien friends,described as the subject of the said act concerning aliens: thata provision against prohibiting their migration, is a provisionagainst all acts equivalent thereto, or it would be nugatory: thatto remove them when migrated, is equivalent to a prohibition of

their migration, and is, therefore, contrary to the said provisionof the Constitution, and void.

6. Resolved, Tat the imprisonment of a person under theprotection of the laws of this commonwealth, on his failureto obey the simple order of the President to depart out ofthe United States, as is undertaken by said act intituled AnAct concerning aliens is contrary to the Constitution, oneamendment to which has provided that no person shalt bedeprived of liberty without due progress of law; and that


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another having provided that in all criminal prosecutions theaccused shall enjoy the right to public trial by an impartial

jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation,

to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to havecompulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, andto have the assistance of counsel for his defense; the same act,undertaking to authorize the President to remove a person outof the United States, who is under the protection of the law, onhis own suspicion, without accusation, without jury, without

public trial, without confrontation of the witnesses against him,without heating witnesses in his favor, without defense, withoutcounsel, is contrary to the provision also of the Constitution,is therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force: thattransferring the power of judging any person, who is underthe protection of the laws from the courts, to the President ofthe United States, as is undertaken by the same act concerning

aliens, is against the article of the Constitution which providesthat the judicial power of the United States shall be vested incourts, the judges of which shall hold their offices during goodbehavior; and that the said act is void for that reason also. Andit is further to be noted, that this transfer of judiciary poweris to that magistrate of the general government who alreadypossesses all the Executive, and a negative on all Legislativepowers.

7. Resolved, Tat the construction applied by the GeneralGovernment (as is evidenced by sundry of their proceedings)to those parts of the Constitution of the United States whichdelegate to Congress a power to lay and collect taxes, duties,imports, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the

common defense and general welfare of the United States,and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper forcarrying into execution, the powers vested by the Constitutionin the government of the United States, or in any department orofficer thereof, goes to the destruction of all limits prescribedto their powers by the Constitution: that words meant by theinstrument to be subsidiary only to the execution of limitedpowers, ought not to be so construed as themselves to giveunlimited powers, nor a part to be so taken as to destroy the


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whole residue of that instrument: that the proceedings of theGeneral Government under color of these articles, will be afit and necessary subject of revisal and correction, at a time

of greater tranquillity, while those specified in the precedingresolutions call for immediate redress.

8. Resolved, Tat a committee of conference andcorrespondence be appointed, who shall have in charge tocommunicate the preceding resolutions to the Legislaturesof the several States: to assure them that this commonwealth

continues in the same esteem of their friendship and unionwhich it has manifested from that moment at which a commondanger first suggested a common union: that it considersunion, for specified national purposes, and particularly to thosespecified in their late federal compact, to be friendly, to thepeace, happiness and prosperity of all the States: that faithfulto that compact, according to the plain intent and meaning in

which it was understood and acceded to by the several parties, itis sincerely anxious for its preservation: that it does also believe,that to take from the States all the powers of self-governmentand transfer them to a general and consolidated government,without regard to the special delegations and reservationssolemnly agreed to in that compact, is not for the peace,happiness or prosperity of these States; and that therefore thiscommonwealth is determined, as it doubts not its co-Statesare, to submit to undelegated, and consequently unlimitedpowers in no man, or body of men on earth: that in cases ofan abuse of the delegated powers, the members of the generalgovernment, being chosen by the people, a change by the peoplewould be the constitutional remedy; but, where powers are

assumed which have not been delegated, a nullification of theact is the rightful remedy: that every State has a natural rightin cases not within the compact, (casus non fderis) to nullifyof their own authority all assumptions of power by otherswithin their limits: that without this right, they would be underthe dominion, absolute and unlimited, of whosoever mightexercise this right of judgment for them: that nevertheless, thiscommonwealth, from motives of regard and respect for its coStates, has wished to communicate with them on the subject:


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that with them alone it is proper to communicate, they alonebeing parties to the compact, and solely authorized to judgein the last resort of the powers exercised under it, Congress

being not a party, but merely the creature of the compact, andsubject as to its assumptions of power to the final judgmentof those by whom, and for whose use itself and its powerswere all created and modified: that if the acts before specifiedshould stand, these conclusions would flow from them; thatthe general government may place any act they think proper on

the list of crimes and punish it themselves whether enumeratedor not enumerated by the constitution as cognizable by them:that they may transfer its cognizance to the President, or anyother person, who may himself be the accuser, counsel, judgeand jury, whose suspicions may be the evidence, his order thesentence, his officer the executioner, and his breast the solerecord of the transaction: that a very numerous and valuable

description of the inhabitants of these States being, by thisprecedent, reduced, as outlaws, to the absolute dominion ofone man, and the barrier of the Constitution thus swept awayfrom us all, no ramparts now remains against the passions andthe powers of a majority in Congress to protect from a likeexportation, or other more grievous punishment, the minorityof the same body, the legislatures, judges, governors andcounsellors of the States, nor their other peaceable inhabitants,who may venture to reclaim the constitutional rights andliberties of the States and people, or who for other causes,good or bad, may be obnoxious to the views, or marked by thesuspicions of the President, or be thought dangerous to his ortheir election, or other interests, public or personal; that the

friendless alien has indeed been selected as the safest subjectof a first experiment; but the citizen will soon follow, or rather,has already followed, for already has a sedition act marked himas its prey: that these and successive acts of the same character,unless arrested at the threshold, necessarily drive these Statesinto revolution and blood and will furnish new calumniesagainst republican government, and new pretexts for thosewho wish it to be believed that man cannot be governed butby a rod of iron: that it would be a dangerous delusion were a


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confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for thesafety of our rights: that confidence is everywhere the parent ofdespotism free government is founded in jealousy, and not

in confidence; it is jealousy and not confidence which prescribeslimited constitutions, to bind down those whom we are obligedto trust with power: that our Constitution has accordinglyfixed the limits to which, and no further, our confidence maygo; and let the honest advocate of confidence read the Alienand Sedition acts, and say if the Constitution has not been

wise in fixing limits to the government it created, and whetherwe should be wise in destroying those limits, Let him say whatthe government is, if it be not a tyranny, which the men of ourchoice have con erred on our President, and the President of ourchoice has assented to, and accepted over the friendly strangerto whom the mild spirit of our country and its law have pledgedhospitality and protection: that the men of our choice have

more respected the bare suspicion of the President, than thesolid right of innocence, the claims of justification, the sacredforce of truth, and the forms and substance of law and justice.In questions of powers, then, let no more be heard of confidencein man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of theConstitution. Tat this commonwealth does therefore call onits co-States for an expression of their sentiments on the actsconcerning aliens and for the punishment of certain crimesherein before specified, plainly declaring whether these acts areor are not authorized by the federal compact. And it doubtsnot that their sense will be so announced as to prove theirattachment unaltered to limited government, weather generalor particular. And that the rights and liberties of their co-

States will be exposed to no dangers by remaining embarked ina common bottom with their own. Tat they will concur withthis commonwealth in considering the said acts as so palpablyagainst the Constitution as to amount to an undisguiseddeclaration that that compact is not meant to be the measure ofthe powers of the General Government, but that it will proceedin the exercise over these States, of all powers whatsoever:that they will view this as seizing the rights of the States, andconsolidating them in the hands of the General Government,


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with a power assumed to bind the States (not merely as thecases made federal, casus fderis but), in all cases whatsoever,by laws made, not with their consent, but by others against

their consent: that this would be to surrender the form ofgovernment we have chosen, and live under one deriving itspowers from its own will, and not from our authority; andthat the co-States, recurring to their natural right in cases notmade federal, will concur in

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