CONTENTS

[For contents in detail, see tables at beginning of each article and amendment]

Prefaces[III], [V]
Editor's forward[VII]
Editor's introduction[IX]
Historical note on formation of the Constitution[9]
Text of the Constitution (literal print)[17]
Text of the amendments (literal print)[37]
The Constitution, with annotations[55]
The preamble[59]
Article I. Legislative Department:
Section 1.The Congress[71]
2.House of Representatives[87]
3.Senate[91]
4.Elections and meetings[92]
4.Elections and meetings[92]
5.Legislative proceedings[95]
6.Rights of Members[99]
7.Bills and resolutions[101]
8.Powers of Congress[105]
9.Powers denied to Congress[312]
10.Powers denied to the States[325]
Article II. Executive Department:
Section 1.The President[377]
2.Powers and duties of the President[389]
3.Miscellaneous powers and duties of the President[462]
4.Impeachment[501]
Article III. Judicial Department:
Section 1.The judges, their terms, and compensation[511]
2.Jurisdiction[538]
3.Treason[638]
Article IV. Federal relations:
Section 1.Full faith and credit given in each State[647]
2.Citizens[686]
3.New States and government of Territory, etc.[697]
4.Form of State government[704]
Article V. Mode of amendment[707]
Article VI. Miscellaneous provisions[717]
Article VII. Ratification[741]
Amendments to the Constitution:
Amendment 1.Religion, free speech, etc.[753]
2.Bearing arms[811]
3.Quartering soldiers[815]
4.Searches and seizures[819]
5.Rights of persons[833]
6.Rights of accused in criminal prosecutions[873]
7.Civil trials[887]
8.Punishment for crime[899]
9.Rights retained by the people[907]
10.Reserved State powers[911]
11.Suits against States[923]
12.Election of President, etc.[937]
13.Slavery and involuntary servitude[945]
Section 1.Prohibition of slavery and involuntary servitude[949]
2.Power of Congress[949]
14.Rights of citizens[955]
Section 1.Citizenship; due process; equal protection[963]
2.Apportionment of representation[1170]
3.Disqualification of officers[1173]
4.Public debt; claims for loss of slaves[1174]
5.Enforcement[1175]
15.Right of citizens to vote[1179]
Section 1.Suffrage not to be abridged for race, color, etc.[1183]
2.Power of Congress[1183]
16.Income tax[1187]
17.Popular election of Senators[1203]
18.Prohibition of intoxicating liquors[1209]
Section 1.Prohibition of intoxicating liquors[1213]
2.Concurrent power to enforce[1213]
3.Time limit on ratification[1213]
19.Equal suffrage[1215]
20.Commencement of the terms of the President, Vice President, and Members of Congress, etc.[1221]
Section 1.Commencement of terms of President, Vice President, Senators, and Representatives[1225]
2.Meeting of Congress[1225]
3.Death or disqualification of President elect[1225]
4.Congress to provide for case wherein death occurs among those from whom House chooses a President[1225]
5.Date of effect[1226]
6.Time limit on ratificn[1226]
21.Repeal of Eighteenth Amendment[1227]
Section 1.Repeal of prohibition[1231]
2.Transportation into States prohibited[1231]
3.Time limit on ratification[1231]
22.Presidential Tenure[1235]
Section 1.Restriction on Number of terms[1237]
2.Time limit on ratification[1237]
Acts of Congress held unconstitutional in whole or in part by the Supreme Court of the United States[1239]
Table of Cases[1257]
Index[1337]

THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

HISTORICAL NOTE ON FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTION

In June 1774, the Virginia and Massachusetts assemblies independently proposed an intercolonial meeting of delegates from the several colonies to restore union and harmony between Great Britain and her American Colonies. Pursuant to these calls there met in Philadelphia in September of that year the first Continental Congress, composed of delegates from 12 colonies. On October 14, 1774, the assembly adopted what has come to be known as the Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress. In that instrument, addressed to His Majesty and to the people of Great Britain, there was embodied a statement of rights and principles, many of which were later to be incorporated in the Declaration of Independence and the Federal Constitution.[a]

This Congress adjourned in October with a recommendation that another Congress be held in Philadelphia the following May. Before its successor met, the battle of Lexington had been fought. In Massachusetts the colonists had organized their own government in defiance of the royal governor and the Crown. Hence, by general necessity and by common consent, the second Continental Congress assumed control of the "Twelve United Colonies", soon to become the "Thirteen United Colonies" by the cooperation of Georgia. It became a de facto government: it called upon the other colonies to assist in the defense of Massachusetts; it issued bills of credit; it took steps to organize a military force, and appointed George Washington commander in chief of the Army.