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Text of the 1st - 10th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution

The Bill of Rights

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 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.

7th Amendment:

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.

8th Amendment:

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual

punishments 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 by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the

States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Ratified by Required Number of States, December 15, 1791.

Text of the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Limitation on Judicial Power

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 7 February 1795.

Text of the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Vote of the Electors for President and Vice-President

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 or choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then

the Vice-President shall act as President as in the 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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 15 June 1804.

Text of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Abolishing Slavery

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. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 6 December 1865.

Text of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Rights of Citizenship

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 power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions

of this article.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 9 July 1868.

Text of the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Right to Vote

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 power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 3 February 1870.

Text of the 16

Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Income Taxes Authorized

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 3 February 1913.

Text of the 17th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Election of Senators by Popular Vote

and Filling of Vacancies

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 8 April 1913.

Text of the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Prohibition of Intoxicating Liquors

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 16 January 1919.

Text of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Women’s Suffrage

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 18 August 1920.

Text of the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

End of Presidential and Congressional Terms

and Death of President or Vice President-Elect

Section 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.

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 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.

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 23 January 1933.

Text of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Repeal of the 18

Amendment

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 5 December 1933.

Text of the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Limitations on Presidential Terms

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 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 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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 27 February 1951.

Text of the 23rd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Presidential Vote in District of Columbia

Section 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

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 29 March 1961.

Text of the 24th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Bar Against Poll Tax or Other Tax Levied in Order to Vote

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 any poll tax or other tax.

Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 23 January 1964.

Text of the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Presidential succession and inability to serve

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 10 February 1967.

Text of the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Voting Age

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.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 1 July 1971.

Text of the 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

Change in Compensation to Senators and Representatives

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take

effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Ratified by Required Number of States, 7 May 1992.