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