Meaning the Laws our Ancestors brought from England
	Due Process
	Trial by Jury

Preamble  

   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 blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do 
ordain and establish the Constitution of the United States of 
America.     

Article I.    

Sect. 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in 
a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate 
and a House of Representatives.     

Sect. 2. 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. 
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. 
    

Representative 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.  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 be law direct.  The number of 
representative 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 choose 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. 
    

When vacancies happen in the representation from any state, the 
Executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill 
such vacancies. 
    

The House of Representatives shall choose the Speaker and other 
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.     

Sect. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
senators from each state chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
six years and each senator shall have one vote. 
Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the 
first election, they hall 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. 
    

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, who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that 
state for which he shall be chosen. 
    

The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the 
Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided. 
    

The Senate shall choose 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. 
    

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. 
    

Judgement 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.     

Sect. 4. 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 
choosing Senators. 
    

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such 
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall be law appoint a different day.     

Sect. 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 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.     

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.     

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 
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 three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 
    

Sect. 6. 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.  They shall in all 
cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the 
same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not 
be questioned in any other place.     

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 increased 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. 
    

Sect. 7. All bill for raising revenue shall originate in the house 
of representative; but the senate may propose or concur with 
amendments as on other bills.     

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 is 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.     

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the 
Senate and House of Representative 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.     

Sect. 8. 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.     

To borrow money on the credit of the United States;     

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several 
states, and with the Indian tribes;     

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws 
on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;     

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, 
and fix the standard of weights and measures;     

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and 
current coin of the United States;     

To establish post offices and post roads;     

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;     

To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme court;     

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high 
seas, and offences against the law of nations;     

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make 
rules concerning captures on land and water;     

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that 
use shall be for a longer term than two years;     

To provide and maintain a navy;     

To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and 
naval forces;     

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.;     

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;     

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession 
of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the 
seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like 
authority over all places purchased by the consent of the 
legislature of the states in which the same shall be, for the 
erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other 
needful buildings; -And     

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by the Constitution in the government of the United States, or in 
any department or officer thereof.     

Sect. 9. 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.     

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, 
unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety 
require it.     

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed.     

No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census or enumeration herein before directed to 
be taken.     

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any state.  
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.     

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.     

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.     

Sect. 10. 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.     

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 its 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; all such laws shall be subject to the revision and 
control of the Congress.  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.    

Sect. 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.     

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.     

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 am equal 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 choose 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 choose the 
president.  But in choosing the president, the votes shall be 
taken by states, the representation from each state having one 
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the 
states shall be necessary to a choice.  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 
choose from them by ballot the vice-president.     

The Congress may determine the time of the choosing the electors, 
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 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.     

In case of the removal of the president from office, or his death, 
resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devolve on the vice-president, 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 be elected.     

      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.     

      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."     

      Sect. 2. 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.     

      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.     

      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 session.     

      Sect. 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.     

      Sect. 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.     

      Sect. 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 behavior, and shall, at stated time, receive for their 
      services a compensation which shall not be diminished during their 
      continuance in office.     

      Sect. 2.
          

      1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and 
      equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United 
      States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their 
      authority; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public 
      ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty and maritime 
      jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall be 
      a party; to controversies between two or more States, between a 
      State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different 
      States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
      grants of different States, and between a State or the citizens 
      thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects.     

      2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
      consuls, and those in which a State shall be a 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.     

      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.     

      Sect. 3.    

      1.  Treason against the United States shall consist only in 
      levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving 
      them aid and comfort.  No person shall be convicted of treason 
      unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or 
      on confession in open court.     

      2.  The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
      treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
      blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person 
      attained.     

      Article IV    

      Sect. 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the 
      public act, 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.     

      Sect. 2.    

      1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
      and immunities of citizens in the several States.     

      2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
      crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, 
      shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State from 
      which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
      jurisdiction of the crime.     

      3. No person held to service or labor 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 labor, 
      but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such 
      service or labor may be due.     

      Sect. 3.    

      1.  New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; 
      but no new State shall be formed or erected within the 
      jurisdiction of any other State, nor any State be formed by the 
      junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the 
      consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
      the Congress.     

      2.  The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
      needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
      property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
      Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of 
      the United States, or of any particular State.     

      Sect. 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 House 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.    

      Sect. 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.     

      Sect. 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, anything in the constitution or laws 
      of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.     

      Sect. 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.     

      Attest:  William Jackson, Secretary
               George Washington
               PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY FROM VIRGINIA    

       NEW HAMPSHIRE
       John Langdon
       Nicholas Gilman    

       MASSACHUSETTS
       Nathaniel Gorham
       Rufus King    

       NEW YORK
       Alexander Hamilton    

       NEW JERSEY
       William Livingston
       David Brearley
       William Paterson
       Jonathan Dayton    

       PENNSYLVANIA
       Benjamin Franklin
       Thomas Mifflin
       Robert Morris
       George Clymer
       Thomas Fitzsimons
       Jared Ingersoll
       James Wilson
       Gouverneur Morris    

       DELAWARE
       George Read
       Gunning Bedford, Jr.
       John Dickinson
       Richard Bassett
       Jacob Broom    

       MARYLAND
       James McHenry
       Dan of St. Thomas Jennifer
       Daniel Carroll    

       VIRGINIA
       John Blair
       James Madison, Jr.    

       NORTH CAROLINA
       William Blount
       Richard Dobbs Spaight
       Hugh Williamson    

       SOUTH CAROLINA
       John Rutledge
       Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
       Charles Pinckney
       Pierce Butler    

       GEORGIA
       William Few
       Abraham Baldwin    

1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of 
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging 
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for 
a redress of grievances.     

2nd Amendment
A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
not be infringed. 
          

3rd Amendment
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.     

4th Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and 
particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons 
or things to be seized.     

5th Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
infamous, crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand 
jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in 
the militia, when in actual service, in time of war, or public 
danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same offence, to 
be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, 
in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be 
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of 
law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without 
just compensation.     

6th Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which 
district shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be 
obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defence.     

7th Amendment
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
preserved; and no fact, tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-
 examined in any court of the United States than according to the 
rules of the common law.     

8th Amendment
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.     

9th  Amendment
The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not 
be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.     

10th Amendment
The powers not delegated to the United States shall not be 
construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of 
another State or by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.     

      11th Amendment
      The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to 
      extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
      against one of the United States by citizens of another State or 
      by citizens or subjects of any foreign state.     

      12th Amendment
      The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
      ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, 
      shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; 
      they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as 
      President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice 
      President; and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 
      voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice 
      President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they 
      shall sign, and certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the 
      Government of the United States, directed to the President of the 
      Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the 
      Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the 
      certificates, and the votes shall then be counted; the person 
      having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the 
      President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
      Electors appointed; and if no person have such a majority, then, 
      from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, 
      on the list of those voted for a President, the House of 
      Representative shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
      President.  But in choosing the President, the votes shall be 
      taken by States, the representation from each State having one 
      vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or 
      members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
      States shall be necessary to a choice.  And if the House of 
      Representatives shall not choose a President, whenever the right 
      of choice shall devolve upon them, [before the fourth day of 
      March next following] the Vice President shall act as President, 
      as in case of death, or other constitutional disability of the 
      President.  The person having the greatest number of votes as 
      Vice President, shall be the Vice President, if such number be a 
      majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no 
      person have a majority, then, form the two highest numbers on the 
      list, the Senate shall choose the Vice President; a quorum for 
      the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of 
      Senators; a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a 
      choice.  But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office 
      of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the 
      United States.     

      13th Amendment (Note: this version appeared after the War)
      Sect. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a 
      punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly 
      convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place 
      subject to their jurisdiction. 
      Sect. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
      appropriate legislation.     

      14th Amendment
      Sect. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 
      and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
      United States and of the State wherein they reside.  No State 
      shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges 
      or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any 
      State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without 
      due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction 
      the equal protection of the laws. 
      Sect. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several 
      States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole 
      number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed.  
      But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of 
      electors for President and Vice President of the United States, 
      Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers 
      of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied 
      to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
      years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
      abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, 
      the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the 
      proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to 
      the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such 
      State. 
      Sect. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in 
      Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any 
      office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 
      State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of 
      Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member 
      of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
      of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, 
      shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, 
      or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.  But Congress 
      may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such 
      disability. 
      Sect. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, 
      authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of 
      pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or 
      rebellion, shall not be questioned.  But neither the United 
      States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
      incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
      States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; 
      but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal 
      and void. 
      Sect. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate 
      legislation, the provisions of this article.     

      15th Amendment
      Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall 
      not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
      account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 
      Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
      appropriate legislation.     

      16th Amendment
      The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on 
      incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment 
      among the several States and without regard to any census or 
      enumeration.     

      17th Amendment
      The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators 
      from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; 
      and each Senator shall have one vote.  The electors in each State 
      shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most 
      numerous branch of the State legislatures. 
      When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the 
      Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs 
      of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the 
      legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to 
      make temporary appointment until the people fill the vacancies by 
      election as the legislature may direct. 
      This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
      election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as 
      part of the Constitution.     

      18th Amendment
      Sect. 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the 
      manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors 
      within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof 
      from the United States and all territory subject to the 
      jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.  
      Sect. 2. The Congress and the several States shall have 
      concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate 
      legislation. 
      Sect. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
      been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the 
      legislatures of the several States, as provided in the 
      Constitution, within seven years of the date of the submission 
      hereof to the States by Congress.     

      19th Amendment
      The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be 
      denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on 
      account of sex. 
      Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
      legislation.     

      20th Amendment
      Sect. 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end 
      at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and 
      Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in 
      which such terms would have ended if this article had not been 
      ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin. 
      Sect. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every 
      years, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of 
      January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. 
      Sect. 3.  If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of 
      the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice 
      President-elect shall become President.  If a President shall not 
      have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his 
      term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then 
      the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President 
      shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the 
      case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect 
      shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, 
      or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and 
      such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice 
      President shall have qualified. 
      Sect. 4. The Congress may by law  provide for the case of the 
      death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives 
      may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have 
      devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the 
      persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever 
      the right of choice shall have devolved upon them. Sect. 5. 
      Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October 
      following the ratification of this article. Sect. 6. This article 
      shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an 
      amendment to the Constitution by three-fourths of the several 
      States within seven years from the date of its submission.     

      21st Amendment
      Sect. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution 
      of the United States is hereby repealed. 
      Sect. 2. The transportation or importation into any State, 
      Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use 
      therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, 
      is hereby prohibited. 
      Sect. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
      been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions 
      in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within 
      seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States 
      by the Congress.     

      22d Amendment
      Sect. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President 
      more than twice, and no person who has held the office of 
      President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a 
      term to which some other person was elected President shall be 
      elected to the office of the President more than once.  But this 
      Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of 
      President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and 
      shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of 
      President, or acting as President, during the term within which 
      his Article becomes operative from holding the office of President 
      or acting as President during the remainder of such term. 
      Sect. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have 
      been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the 
      legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven 
      years from the date of its submission to the States by the 
      Congress.     

      23rd Amendment
      Sect. 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the 
      United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may 
      direct: 
      A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the 
      whole number of Senators and Representative in Congress to which 
      the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event 
      more than the least populous State; they shall be considered, for 
      the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to 
      be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the 
      District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth 
      article of amendment. 
      Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
      appropriate legislation.     

      24th Amendment
      Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any 
      primary or other election for President or Vice President, for 
      electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or 
      Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the 
      United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll 
      tax or other tax. 
      Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
      appropriate legislation.     

      25th Amendment
      Sect. 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of 
      his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become 
      President. 
      Sect. 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice 
      President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall 
      take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of 
      Congress. 
      Sect. 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro 
      tempore of the Senate and the Speakers of the House of 
      Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to 
      discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he 
      transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such 
      powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as 
      Acting President. 
      Sect. 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the 
      principal officers of the executive departments or of such other 
      body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro 
      tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 
      Representatives their written declaration that the President is 
      unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice 
      President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the 
      office as Acting President. 
      Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro 
      tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 
      Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, 
      he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the 
      Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of 
      the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by 
      law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro 
      tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 
      Representatives their written declaration that the President is 
      unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.  
      Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within 
      forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session.  If the 
      Congress, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to 
      assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the 
      President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his 
      office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as 
      Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers 
      and duties of his office.     

      26th Amendment
      Sect. 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 
      eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or 
      abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. 
      Sect. 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article 
      by appropriate legislation.