The Charters
of Freedom - The Bill of Rights
During the debates for deciding whether to adopt the Constitution
or not, opponents to the Constitution continuously mentioned
that it would lead to tyranny by the central government. The
British violation of civil rights before and during the Revolution
was often used as an example on these debates. The principle
of separation of power among the Executive, Legislative and Judicial
branches was devised. A "bill of rights" was thought
to be a way of clarifying the rights and liberties of all individual
American citizens.
On
September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed
twelve amendments in accordance of the most common arguments
against the Constitution. Twenty-seven amendments have been added
to the Constitution since 1789. The articles 3 to 12, constitute
the first ten amendments of the Constitution, ratified December
15, 1791, which form the "Bill of Rights".
THE
PREAMBLE TO THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Congress
of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and
eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time
of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order
to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further
declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending
the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best
ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
RESOLVED
by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses
concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures
of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the
United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by
three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents
and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.
ARTICLES
in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United
States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the
Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article
of the original Constitution.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 reexamined in
any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of
the common law.
AMENDMENT
VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT
IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
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.
OTHER
AMMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
AMENDMENT
XI
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Note:
Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by the
11th amendment.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
AMENDMENT
XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note:
Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by the
16th amendment.
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
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.
AMENDMENT
XVIII
Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919.
Repealed by the 21st amendment.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
 |
Click
below if you have clicked on the Fourth of July tour on the main
page.
|
Continue
the Fourth of July Tour |
Nothing
in this site is Public Domain. Graphics are copyrighted by various
artists and are used with permission.
Please, click on the links above to visit the sites were you
can download the graphics from. Do NOT save anything from my
pages, please. |
|
|