Bill of Rights
During the debates on the adoption
of the Constitution, its opponents repeatedly charged that the Constitution
as drafted would open the way to tyranny by the central government. Fresh
in their minds was the memory of the British violation of civil rights before
and during the Revolution. They demanded a "bill of rights" that would spell
out the immunities of individual citizens. Several state conventions in their
formal ratification of the Constitution asked for such amendments; others
ratified the Constitution with the understanding that the amendments would
be offered.
On September 25, 1789, the First
Congress of the United States therefore proposed to the state legislatures
12 amendments to the Constitution that met arguments most frequently advanced
against it. The first two proposed amendments, which concerned the number
of constituents for each Representative and the compensation of Congressmen,
were not ratified. Articles 3 to 12, however, ratified by three-fourths of
the state legislatures, constitute the first 10 amendments of the Constitution,
known as the Bill of Rights.
For
a picture of the original Bill of Rights click here
The Bill of Rights: A
Transcription
Note: The following text is a
transcription of the first ten amendments to the Constitution in their original
form. These amendments were ratified December 15, 1791, and form what is
known as the "Bill of Rights."
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Amendment I
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.
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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, shall not be infringed.
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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.
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Amendment IV
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.
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Amendment V
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.
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Amendment VI
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 confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor,
and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
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Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the
value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury
shall be 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.
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Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required,
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
inflicted.
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Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution,
of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.
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Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the
United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Constitutional Amendments 1-10
make up what is known as The Bill of Rights.
Amendments 11-27 are listed below.
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AMENDMENT XI
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Note: Article III, section 2, of
the Constitution was modified by amendment 11.
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.
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AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II,
section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 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 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 majority, then from the persons having the highest
numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President,
the House of Representatives 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, then
the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the 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 from 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, and 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.
*Superseded by section 3 of the
20th amendment.
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AMENDMENT XIII
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV,
section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Section 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.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of
the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
Section 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 to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection
of the laws.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 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.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th
amendment.
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AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
Section 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--
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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AMENDMENT XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 9, of
the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.
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.
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AMENDMENT XVII
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 3, of
the Constitution was modified by the 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
appointments 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.
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AMENDMENT XVIII
Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed
by amendment 21.
Section 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.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 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 from the date of the
submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
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AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
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.
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AMENDMENT XX
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note: Article I, section 4, of
the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition,
a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the 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.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, 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 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 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.
Section 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.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the
ratification of this article.
Section 6.
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.
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AMENDMENT XXI
Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States
is hereby repealed.
Section 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.
Section 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.
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AMENDMENT XXII
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
Section 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 President more than once. But
this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President
when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person
who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during
the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office
of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 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.
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AMENDMENT XXIII
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall
appoint in such manner as Congress 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 were a 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 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.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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AMENDMENT XXIV
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 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
poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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AMENDMENT XXV
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note: Article II, section 1, of
the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or
resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 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.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate
and the Speaker 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.
Section 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 receipt of
the latter 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 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.
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AMENDMENT XXVI
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2,
of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
Section 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.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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AMENDMENT XXVII
Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation
for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect,
until an election of representatives shall have intervened.
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