Amendments to the US Constitution
Amendment XI
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Mar. 5, 1794,
by the Third Congress. It was ratified Feb. 7, 1795.)
[Judicial power of United States not to extend to suits against a state.]
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.
Amendment XII
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Dec. 12,
1803, by the Eighth Congress. It was ratified July 27, 1804.)
[Present mode of electing president and vice president by electors.1]
1. Amended by the 20th
Amendment, Sections 3 and 4.
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 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.
Amendment XIII
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Feb. 1, 1865,
by the Thirty-eighth Congress. It was ratified Dec. 6, 1865.)
Section 1
[Slavery prohibited.]
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 given power to enforce this article.]
Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XIV
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states June 16,
1866, by the Thirty-ninth Congress. It was ratified July 9, 1868.)
Section 1
[Citizenship defined; privileges of citizens.]
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
[Apportionment of Representatives.]
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
[Disqualification for office; removal of disability.]
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
[Public debt not to be questioned; payment of debts and claims incurred
in aid of rebellion forbidden.]
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
[Congress given power to enforce this article.]
The Congress shall have power to enforce,
by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment XV
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Feb. 27,
1869, by the Fortieth Congress. It was ratified Feb. 3, 1870.)
Section 1
[Right of certain citizens to vote established.]
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
[Congress given power to enforce this article.]
The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XVI
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states July 12,
1909, by the Sixty-first Congress. It was ratified Feb. 3, 1913.)
[Taxes on income; Congress given power to lay and collect.]
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.
Amendment XVII
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states May 16, 1912,
by the Sixty-second Congress. It was ratified April 8, 1913.)
[Election of U.S. senators; filling of vacancies; qualifications of electors.]
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.
Amendment XVIII2
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Dec. 18,
1917, by the Sixty-fifth Congress. It was ratified by three quarters of
the states by Jan. 16, 1919, and became effective Jan. 16, 1920.)
2. Repealed by the
21st Amendment.
Section 1
[Manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors, for beverage
purposes, prohibited.]
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
[Congress and the several states given concurrent power to pass appropriate
legislation to enforce this article.]
The Congress and the several States shall
have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3
[Provisions of article to become operative, when adopted by three fourths
of the states.]
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 Congress.
Amendment XIX
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states June 4, 1919,
by the Sixty-sixth Congress. It was ratified Aug. 18, 1920.)
[The right of citizens to vote shall not be denied because of sex.]
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 given power to enforce this article.]
Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XX
(The proposed amendment, sometimes called the “Lame Duck
Amendment,” was sent to the states Mar. 3, 1932, by the Seventy-second
Congress. It was ratified Jan. 23, 1933; but, in accordance with Section
5, Sections 1 and 2, did not go into effect until Oct. 15, 1933.)
Section 1
[Terms of president, vice president, senators, and representatives.]
The terms of the President and Vice President
shall end at noon on the twentieth day of January, and the terms of Senators
and Representatives at noon on the third 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
[Time of assembling Congress.]
The Congress shall assemble at least once
in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of
January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3
[Filling vacancy in office of president.]
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 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
[Power of Congress in presidential succession.]
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
[Time of taking effect.]
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the
15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6
[Ratification.]
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.
Amendment XXI
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Feb. 20,
1933, by the Seventy-second Congress. It was ratified Dec. 5, 1933.)
Section 1
[Repeal of Prohibition Amendment.]
The eighteenth article of amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2
[Transportation of intoxicating liquors.]
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
[Ratification.]
This article shall be inoperative unless it
shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by convention
in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years
from the date of the submission thereof to the States by the Congress.
Amendment XXII
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Mar. 21,
1947, by the Eightieth Congress. It was ratified Feb. 27, 1951.)
Section 1
[Limit to number of terms a president may serve.]
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
[Ratification.]
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.
Amendment XXIII
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states June 16,
1960, by the Eighty-sixth Congress. It was ratified March 29, 1961.)
Section 1
[Electors for the District of Columbia.]
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
[Congress given power to enforce this article.]
The Congress shall have the power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXIV
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Aug. 27,
1962, by the Eighty-seventh Congress. It was ratified Jan. 23, 1964.)
Section 1
[Payment of poll tax or other taxes not to be prerequisite for voting in
federal elections.]
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 reasons of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2
[Congress given power to enforce this article.]
The Congress shall have the power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXV
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states July 6, 1965,
by the Eighty-ninth Congress. It was ratified Feb. 10, 1967.)
Section 1
[Succession of vice president to presidency.]
In case of the removal of the President from
office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become
President.
Section 2
[Vacancy in office of vice president.]
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
[Vice president as acting president.]
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
[Vice president as acting president.]
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.
Amendment XXVI
(The proposed amendment was sent to the states Mar. 23,
1971, by the Ninety-second Congress. It was ratified July 1, 1971.)
Section 1
[Voting for 18-year-olds.]
The right of citizens of the United States,
who are 18 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
[Congress given power to enforce this article.]
The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XXVII
(Ratified May 7, 1992.)
[Congressional raises.]
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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