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The Constitution Of The United States


We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect

union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the

common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of

liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this

Constitution for the United States of America.



Article I.



SECTION I.



1. All legislat
ve powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress

of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of

Representatives.



SECTION II.



1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen

every second year by the people of the several States; and the electors

in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of

the most numerous branch of the State legislature.



2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to

the age of twenty-five years, and have 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.



3. 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 by law

direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every

thirty thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative;

and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire

shall be entitled to 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.



4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the

executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such

vacancies.



5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other

officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.



SECTION III.



1. 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.



2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first

election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes.

The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the

expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of

the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth

year, so that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if

vacancies happen by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the

legislature of any State, the executive thereof may make temporary

appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall then

fill such vacancies.



3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age

of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and

who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he

shall be chosen.



4. The Vice-President of the United States shall be president of the

Senate, but shall have no vote unless they be equally divided.



5. 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.



6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When

sitting for that purpose they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the

President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall

preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of

two-thirds of the members present.



7. Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further than to

removal from office, disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of

honor, trust or profit under the United States; but the party convicted

shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment

and punishment, according to law.



SECTION IV.



1. The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and

representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature

thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such

regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators.



2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; and such

meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by

law appoint a different day.



SECTION V.



1. Each house shall be the judge of the election, 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.



2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its

members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of

two-thirds, expel a member.



3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to

time publish the same, excepting such parts as in their judgment require

secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house on any

question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered

on the journal.



4. Neither house, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the

consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other

place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting.



SECTION VI.



1. The senators and representatives shall receive a compensation for

their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury

of the United States. They shall, in all cases, except treason, felony,

and breach of 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.



2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was

elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the

United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof

shall have been 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.



SECTION VII.



1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of

Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as

on other bills.



2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and

the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the

President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if

not he shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it

shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their

journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration,

two-thirds of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent,

together with the objections, to the other house, by which it shall

likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that house,

it shall become a law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses

shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons

voting for or against the bill 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.



3. Every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of the

Senate and the House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a

question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the

United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved

by him, or, being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of

the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and

limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.



SECTION VIII.



The Congress shall have power--



1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises to pay the

debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the

United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform

throughout the United States;



2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;



3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several

States, and with the Indian tribes;



4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on

the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;



5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and

fix the standard of weights and measures;



6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and

current coin of the United States;



7. To establish post-offices and post-roads;



8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for

limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their

respective writings and discoveries;



9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;



10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high

seas, and offenses against the law of nations;



11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules

concerning captures on land and water;



12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that

use shall be for a longer term than two years;



13. To provide and maintain a navy;



14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and

naval forces;



15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the

Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;



16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the militia, and

for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the

United States, reserving to the States, respectively, the appointment of

the officers, and the authority of training the militia according to the

discipline prescribed by Congress;



17. 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 State in

which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals,

dock-yards, 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.



SECTION IX



1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now

existing shall think proper to admit shall not be prohibited by the

Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a

tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten

dollars for each person.



2. The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,

unless when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may

require it.



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



4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in proportion

to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken.



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



6. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue

to the ports of one State over those or another; nor shall vessels bound

to or from one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in

another.



7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of

appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the

receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be published from

time to time.



8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no

person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without

the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or

title of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state.



SECTION X.



1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation;

grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit;

make anything 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.



2. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any impost

or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary

for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of an duties and

imposts laid by any State on imports or exports shall be for the use of

the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to

the revision and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the

consent of the Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships

of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with

another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless

actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.



Article II.



SECTION I.



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:



2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof

may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole number of senators

and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress;

but no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust

or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector.



3. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by

ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant

of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the

persons voted for and of the number of votes for each; which list they

shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of 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 a 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 all 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.



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

day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be the same

throughout the United States.



5. No person, except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the United

States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be

eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be

eligible to that office who shall not have attained the age of

thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United

States.



6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death,

resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of 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 shall be

elected.



7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services a

compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the

period for which he shall have been elected; and he shall not receive

within that period any other emoluments from the United States, or any

of them.



8. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the

following oath or affirmation:



I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the

office of President of the United States; and will, to the best of my

ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United

States.



SECTION II.



1. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the

United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called

into the actual service of the United States. He may require the

opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive

departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective

offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for

offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.



2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the

Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present

concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent

of the Senate, shall appoint embassadors, 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.



3. The President shall have power to fill all vacancies that may happen

during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall

expire at the end of their next session.



SECTION III.



1. 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

embassadors and other public ministers. He shall take care that the laws

be faithfully executed; and shall commission all officers of the United

States.



SECTION IV.



1. The President, Vice-President and all civil officers of the United

States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction

of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.



Article III.



SECTION I



1. The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one

Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as 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 times, receive for their services a compensation which shall not

be diminished during their continuance of office.



SECTION II.



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 embassadors, 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 embassadors, 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 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 crime

shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the

trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have

directed.



SECTION III.



l. 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 attainted.



Article IV.



SECTION I.



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

acts, records and judicial proceedings of every other State; and the

Congress may, by general laws, prescribe the manner in which such acts,

records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.



SECTION II. 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 laws or

regulations 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.



SECTION III.



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 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 claim of the United States, or of

any particular State.



SECTION IV.



1. 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.



1. The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it

necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution; or, on the

application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States,

shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case,

shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Constitution,

when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several

States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the

other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided,

that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight

hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the first and fourth

clauses in the ninth section of the fifth article; and that no State,

without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the

Senate.



Article VI.



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.



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 of every State shall be bound thereby,

anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary

notwithstanding.



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 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.



1. The ratification of the convention 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 December, 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.



GEORGE WASHINGTON,

President, and Deputy from Virginia.





AMENDMENTS.



Article 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 grievance.



Article 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.



Article 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.



Article 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.



Article 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 offense 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.



Article 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 defense.



Article 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 reexamined, in any court of the

United States, than according to the rules of the common law.



Article VIII.



Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor

cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.



Article IX.



The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be

construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.



Article 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. [The preceding ten amendatory articles were proposed

to the legislatures of the States by the first Congress, September 25,

1789, and notification of ratification received from all the States

except Connecticut, Georgia and Massachusetts.]



Article XI.



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 or subjects of any foreign state.



[Proposed by the Third Congress, and Congress notified of its adoption

January 8, 1798.]



Article XII.



1. 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

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 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 the case of the death or other constitutional

disability of the President.



2. 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.



3. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President

shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United Stales.



[Proposed by the Eighth Congress, and declared adopted September 23,

1804, by proclamation of the Secretary of State.]



Article XIII.



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.



2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate

legislation.



[Proposed by the Thirty-eighth Congress, and declared adopted December

18, 1865, by proclamation of the Secretary of State.]



Article XIV.



SECTION I.



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 or law, nor deny to any person within its

jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.



SECTION II. 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 III. 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 IV. 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 V. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate

legislation, the provisions of this article.



[Proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress and declared adopted by concurrent

resolution of Congress, July 21, 1868.]



Article XV.



SECTION I.



The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied

or abridged by the United States, or any State, on account of race,

color or previous condition of servitude.



SECTION II.



The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate

legislation.



[Proposed by the Fortieth Congress, and declared adopted by proclamation

of the Secretary of State, March 30, 1870.]



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