United States Constitution

United States Constitution 1
United States Constitution

United States Constitution
Page one of the original copy of the Constitution
Created September 17, 1787
Ratified June 21, 1788
Location National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Authors Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention
Signatories 39 of the 55 Philadelphia Convention delegates
Purpose National constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation
The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution is the
framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government
with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.
The Constitution creates the three branches of the national government: a legislature, the bicameral Congress; an
executive branch led by the President; and a judicial branch headed by the Supreme Court. The Constitution
specifies the powers and duties of each branch. The Constitution reserves all unenumerated powers to the respective
states and the people, thereby establishing the federal system of government.
The Constitution was adopted on September 17, 1787, by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and ratified by conventions in each U.S. state in the name of "The People". The Constitution has been
amended twenty-seven times; the first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights.[1] [2]
The United States Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in use by any nation in the world,[3] although the
Statutes of 1600, the principal part of San Marino's Constitution, is older.
The Constitution holds a central place in United States law and political culture.[4] The handwritten original
document penned by Jacob Shallus is on display at the National Archives and Records Administration in
Washington, D.C.
History
Drafting and ratification requirements

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were the first constitution of the United States of America.[5]
In September 1786, commissioners from five states met in the Annapolis Convention to discuss adjustments to the
Articles of Confederation that would improve commerce. They invited state representatives to convene in
Philadelphia to discuss improvements to the federal government. After debate, the Congress of the Confederation
endorsed the plan to revise the Articles of Confederation on February 21, 1787.[6] Twelve states, Rhode Island being
the only exception, accepted this invitation and sent delegates to convene in May 1787.[6] The resolution calling the
Convention specified that its purpose was to propose amendments to the Articles, but through discussion and debate
it became clear by mid-June that, rather than amend the existing Articles, the Convention decided to propose a
rewritten Constitution.[7] The Constitutional Convention voted to keep the debates secret, so that the delegates could
speak freely. They also decided to draft a new fundamental government design. Despite Article 13 of the Articles of
Confederation stating that the union created under the Articles was "perpetual" and that any alteration must be
"agreed to in a Congress of the United States, and be afterwards confirmed by the legislatures of every State,"[8]
Article VII of the proposed constitution stipulated that only nine of the thirteen states would have to ratify for the
new government to go into effect (for the participating states).[1] Current knowledge of the drafting and construction
of the United States Constitution comes primarily from the diaries left by James Madison, who kept a complete
record of the proceedings at the Constitutional Convention.[9]
Work of the Constitutional Convention

The Virginia Plan was the unofficial agenda for the Convention, and was drafted chiefly by James Madison,
considered to be "The Father of the Constitution" for his major contributions.[9] It was weighted toward the interests
of the larger states, and proposed among other points:
• A powerful bicameral legislature with a House and a Senate[10]
• An executive chosen by the legislature
• A judiciary, with life-terms of service and vague powers
• The national legislature would be able to veto state laws
An alternative proposal, William Paterson's New Jersey Plan,
includes the following points that countered the previous
proposal that favored the larger states, among others:
• A unicameral legislature with all states represented in equal
numbers in order to insure fairness
• An executive branch appointed by the legislature
• A judicial branch appointed by the executive.[11]
Roger Sherman of Connecticut brokered The Great
Compromise whereby the House would represent the people,
The Philadelphia Convention
a Senate would represent the states, and a president would be
elected by electors.[12]
The contentious issue of slavery was too controversial to be resolved during the convention. As a result, the original
Constitution contained four provisions tacitly allowing slavery to continue for the next 20 years. Section 9 of Article
I allowed the continued "importation" of such persons, Section 2 of Article IV prohibited the provision of assistance
to escaping persons and required their return if successful and Section 2 of Article I defined other persons as
"three-fifths" of a person for calculations of each state's official population for representation and federal taxation.[13]
Article V prohibited any amendments or legislation changing the provision regarding slave importation until 1808,
thereby giving the States then existing 20 years to resolve this issue. The failure to do so contributed to the Civil
War.[14]
Ratification
Ratification of the Constitution
Date State Votes
Yes No
1 December 7, 1787 Delaware 30 0
2 December 11, 1787 Pennsylvania 46 23
3 December 18, 1787 New Jersey 38 0
4 January 2, 1788 Georgia 26 0
5 January 9, 1788 Connecticut 128 40
6 February 6, 1788 Massachusetts 187 168
7 April 26, 1788 Maryland 63 11
8 May 23, 1788 South Carolina 149 73
9 June 21, 1788 New Hampshire 57 47
10 June 25, 1788 Virginia 89 79
11 July 26, 1788 New York 30 27
12 November 21, 1789 North Carolina 194 77
13 May 29, 1790 Rhode Island 34 32
Contrary to the process for alteration set out in Article 13 of the Articles, Article VII provided that ratification by
nine states, rather than all of them, would be sufficient for the Constitution to come into force.
On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was completed, followed by a speech given by Benjamin Franklin, who
urged unanimity, although the Convention decided that only nine states were needed to ratify. The Convention
submitted the Constitution to the Congress of the Confederation, where it received approval according to Article 13
of the Articles of Confederation.[10]
Once the Congress of the Confederation received word of New Hampshire's ratification, it set a timetable for the
start of operations under the new Constitution, and on March 4, 1789, the government began operations.
Historical influences
Several ideas in the Constitution were new, and a large number were drawn from the literature of republicanism in
the United States, the experiences of the 13 states, and the British experience with mixed government. The most
important influence from the European continent was from Montesquieu, who emphasized the need to have balanced
forces pushing against each other to prevent tyranny. (This in itself reflects the influence of Polybius's 2nd century
BC treatise on the checks and balances of the constitution of the Roman Republic.) British political philosopher John
Locke was a major influence, and the due process clause of the Constitution was partly based on common law
stretching back to Magna Carta (1215).[10]
Influences on the Bill of Rights

The United States Bill of Rights consists of the ten amendments added to the Constitution in 1791, as supporters of
the Constitution had promised critics during the debates of 1788.[15] The English Bill of Rights (1689) was an
inspiration for the American Bill of Rights. Both require jury trials, contain a right to keep and bear arms, prohibit
excessive bail and forbid "cruel and unusual punishments." Many liberties protected by state constitutions and the
Virginia Declaration of Rights were incorporated into the Bill of Rights.
Articles of the Constitution

The Constitution consists of a preamble, seven original articles, twenty-seven amendments, and a paragraph
certifying its enactment by the constitutional convention.
Preamble: Statement of purpose
“
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the
”
common defence, 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.
—United States Constitution, Preamble
Article One: Legislative Power

Article One describes the Congress, the legislative branch of the federal government. The United States Congress is
a bicameral body consisting of two co-equal houses: the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The article establishes the manner of election and the qualifications of members of each body. Representatives must
be at least 25 years old, be a citizen of the United States for seven years, and live in the state they represent. Senators
must be at least 30 years old, be a citizen for nine years, and live in the state they represent.
Article I, Section 1, reads, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States,
which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." This provision gives Congress more than simply the
responsibility to establish the rules governing its proceedings and for the punishment of its members; it places the
power of the government primarily in Congress.
Article I Section 8 enumerates the legislative powers. The powers listed and all other powers are made the exclusive
responsibility of the legislative branch:
The Congress shall have power... To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into
execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the government of
the United States, or in any department or officer thereof.
Article I Section 9 provides a list of eight specific limits on congressional power and Article I Section 10 limits the
rights of the states.
The United States Supreme Court has interpreted the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause in
Article One to allow Congress to enact legislation that is neither expressly listed in the enumerated power nor
expressly denied in the limitations on Congress. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the United States Supreme Court
fell back on the strict construction of the necessary and proper clause to read that Congress had "[t]he foregoing
powers and all other powers..."
Article Two: Executive power

Section analysis
Section 1 creates the presidency. The section states that the executive power is vested in a President. The presidential
term is four years and the Vice President serves the identical term. This section originally set the method of electing
the President and Vice President, but this method has been superseded by the Twelfth Amendment.
• Qualifications. The President must be a natural born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old and a
resident of the United States for at least 14 years. An obsolete part of this clause provides that instead of being a
natural born citizen, a person may be a citizen at the time of the adoption of the Constitution. The reason for this
clause was to extend eligibility to Citizens of the United States at the time of the adoption of the Constitution,
regardless of their place of birth, who were born under the allegiance of a foreign sovereign before the founding
of the United States. Without this clause, no one would have been eligible to be president until thirty-five years
after the founding of the United States.
• Succession. Section 1 specifies that the Vice President succeeds to the presidency if the President is removed,
unable to discharge the powers and duties of office, dies while in office, or resigns. The original text ("the same
shall devolve") left it unclear whether this succession was intended to be on an acting basis (merely taking on the
powers of the office) or permanent (assuming the Presidency itself). After the death of William Henry Harrison,
John Tyler set the precedent that the succession was permanent; this practice was followed when later presidents
died in office. Today the 25th Amendment states that the Vice President becomes President upon the death or
disability of the President.
• Pay. The President receives "Compensation" for being the president, and this compensation may not be increased
or decreased during the president's term in office. The president may not receive other compensation from either
the United States or any of the individual states.
• Oath of office. The final clause creates the presidential oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.
Section 2 grants substantive powers to the president:
• The president is the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, and of the state militias when these
are called into federal service.
• The president may require opinions of the principal officers of the federal government.
• The president may grant reprieves and pardons, except in cases of impeachment (i.e., the president cannot pardon
himself or herself to escape impeachment by Congress).
Section 2 grants and limits the president's appointment powers:
• The president may make treaties, with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided two-thirds of the Senators
who are present agree.
• With the advice and consent of the Senate, the President may appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and
consuls, judges of the supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not
otherwise described in the Constitution.
• Congress may give the power to appoint lower officers to the President alone, to the courts, or to the heads of
departments.
• The president may make any of these appointments during a congressional recess. Such a "recess appointment"
expires at the end of the next session of Congress.
Section 3 opens by describing the president's relations with Congress:
• The president reports on the state of the union.
• The president may convene either house, or both houses, of Congress.
• When the two houses of Congress cannot agree on the time of adjournment, the president may adjourn them to
some future date.
Section 3 adds:
• The president receives ambassadors.
• The president sees that the laws are faithfully executed.
• The president commissions all the offices of the federal government.
Section 4 provides for removal of the president and other federal officers. The president is removed on impeachment
for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Article Three: Judicial power

Article Three describes the court system (the judicial branch), including the Supreme Court. The article requires that
there be one court called the Supreme Court; Congress, at its discretion, can create lower courts, whose judgments
and orders are reviewable by the Supreme Court. Article Three also creates the right to trial by jury in all criminal
cases, defines the crime of treason, and charges Congress with providing for a punishment for it. This Article also
sets the kinds of cases that may be heard by the federal judiciary, which cases the Supreme Court may hear first
(called original jurisdiction), and that all other cases heard by the Supreme Court are by appeal under such
regulations as the Congress shall make.
Article Four: States' powers and limits

Article Four outlines the relation between the states and the relation between the federal government. In addition, it
provides for such matters as admitting new states as well as border changes between the states. For instance, it
requires states to give "full faith and credit" to the public acts, records, and court proceedings of the other states.
Congress is permitted to regulate the manner in which proof of such acts, records, or proceedings may be admitted.
The "privileges and immunities" clause prohibits state governments from discriminating against citizens of other
states in favor of resident citizens (e.g., having tougher penalties for residents of Ohio convicted of crimes within
Michigan). It also establishes extradition between the states, as well as laying down a legal basis for freedom of
movement and travel amongst the states. Today, this provision is sometimes taken for granted, especially by citizens
who live near state borders; but in the days of the Articles of Confederation, crossing state lines was often a much
more arduous and costly process. Article Four also provides for the creation and admission of new states. The
Territorial Clause gives Congress the power to make rules for disposing of federal property and governing non-state
territories of the United States. Finally, the fourth section of Article Four requires the United States to guarantee to
each state a republican form of government, and to protect the states from invasion and violence.
Article Five: Amendments

An amendment may be ratified in three ways:
• The new amendment may be approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then sent to the states for
approval.
• Two-thirds of the state legislatures may apply to Congress for a constitutional convention to consider
amendments, which are then sent to the states for approval.
• Congress may require ratification by special convention. The convention method has been used only once, to
approve the 21st Amendment (repealing prohibition, 1933).
Regardless of the method of proposing an amendment, final ratification requires approval by three-fourths of the
states.
Today Article Five places only one limit on the amending power: no amendment may deprive a state of equal
representation in the Senate without that state's consent. The original Article V included other limits on the amending
power regarding slavery and taxation; however, these limits expired in 1808.
Article Six: Federal power

Article Six establishes the Constitution, and the laws and treaties of the United States made according to it, to be the
supreme law of the land, and that "the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the laws or
constitutions of any state notwithstanding." It also validates national debt created under the Articles of Confederation
and requires that all federal and state legislators, officers, and judges take oaths or affirmations to support the
Constitution. This means that the states' constitutions and laws should not conflict with the laws of the federal
constitution and that in case of a conflict, state judges are legally bound to honor the federal laws and constitution
over those of any state.
Article Six also states "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under
the United States."
Article Seven: Ratification

Article Seven sets forth the requirements for ratification of the Constitution. The Constitution would not take effect
until at least nine states had ratified the Constitution in state conventions specially convened for that purpose, and it
would only apply to those states that ratified it.[7] (See above Drafting and ratification requirements.)
Judicial review
The way the Constitution is understood is influenced by court decisions, especially those of the Supreme Court.
These decisions are referred to as precedents. In the 1803 case Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court established
the doctrine of judicial review. Judicial review is the power of the Court to examine federal legislation, executive
agency rules and state laws, to decide their constitutionality, and to strike them down if found unconstitutional.
Judicial review includes the power of the Court to explain the meaning of the Constitution as it applies to particular
cases. Over the years, Court decisions on issues ranging from governmental regulation of radio and television to the
rights of the accused in criminal cases have changed the way many constitutional clauses are interpreted, without
amendment to the actual text of the Constitution.
Legislation passed to implement the Constitution, or to adapt those implementations to changing conditions,
broadens and, in subtle ways, changes the meanings given to the words of the Constitution. Up to a point, the rules
and regulations of the many federal executive agencies have a similar effect. If an action of Congress or the agencies
is challenged, however, it is the court system that ultimately decides whether these actions are permissible under the
Constitution.
Amendments
The framers of the Constitution were aware that changes would be necessary if the Constitution was to endure as the
nation grew. However, they were also conscious that such change should not be easy, lest it permit ill-conceived and
hastily passed amendments. On the other hand, they also wanted to ensure that a rigid requirement of unanimity
would not block action desired by the vast majority of the population. Their solution was a two-step process for
proposing and ratifying new amendments.[16]
Amending the Constitution is a two-part process: amendments must be proposed then ratified. Amendments can be
proposed one of two ways. To date, all amendments, whether ratified or not, have been proposed by a two-thirds
vote in each house of Congress. Over 10,000 constitutional amendments have been introduced in Congress since
1789; during the last several decades, between 100 and 200 have been offered in a typical congressional year. Most
of these ideas never leave Congressional committee, and far fewer get proposed by the Congress for ratification.
Alternatively, if two-thirds of the state legislatures demand one, Congress must call for a constitutional convention,
which would have the power to propose amendments. As no such convention has been called, it is unclear how one
would work in practice.
Regardless of how the amendment is proposed, it must also be ratified by three-fourths of states. Congress
determines whether the state legislatures or special state conventions ratify the amendment. The 21st Amendment is
the only one that employed state conventions for ratification.
There are currently only a few proposals for amendments which have entered mainstream political debate. These
include the Federal Marriage Amendment, the Balanced Budget Amendment, and the Flag Desecration Amendment.
All three proposals are supported primarily by conservatives, but failed during periods of Republican control of
Congress to achieve the supermajorities necessary for submission to the states. As such, none of these are likely to be
proposed under the current Congress, which is controlled by the more liberal Democratic Party.
Unlike amendments to most constitutions, amendments to the United States Constitution are appended to the body of
the text without altering or removing what already exists. (However, in cases where newer text clearly contradicts
older text, the newer text is given precedence. For instance, the Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth
Amendment.) Technically, nothing prevents a future amendment from actually changing the older text, rather than
simply appending text to the end.
Successful amendments
The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. The first ten, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified
simultaneously by 1791. The following seventeen were ratified separately over the next two centuries.
The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10)
It is commonly understood that originally the Bill of Rights was

not intended to apply to the states; however, there is no such limit
in the text itself, except where an amendment refers specifically to
the federal government. One example is the First Amendment,
which says only that "Congress shall make no law...", and under
which some states in the early years of the nation officially
established a religion. A rule of inapplicability to the states
remained until 1868, when the Fourteenth Amendment was
passed, which stated, in part, that:
United States Bill of Rights currently housed in the

National Archives.
“
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. ”
The Supreme Court has interpreted this clause to extend most, but not all, parts of the Bill of Rights to the states, a
process known as incorporation of the Bill of Rights. The balance of state and federal power under the incorporation
doctrine is still an open question and continues to be fought separately for each right in the federal courts.
The amendments that became the Bill of Rights were the last ten of the twelve amendments proposed in 1789. The
second of the twelve proposed amendments, regarding the compensation of members of Congress, remained
unratified until 1992, when the legislatures of enough states finally approved it; as a result, after pending for two
centuries, it became the Twenty-seventh Amendment.
The first of the twelve, which is still technically pending before the state legislatures for ratification, pertains to the
apportionment of the United States House of Representatives after each decennial census. The most recent state
whose lawmakers are known to have ratified this proposal is Kentucky in 1792, during that commonwealth's first
month of statehood.
• First Amendment: addresses the rights of freedom of religion (prohibiting Congress from establishing a religion
and protecting the right to free exercise of religion), freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of
assembly, and freedom of petition.
• Second Amendment: guarantees the right of individuals to possess weapons. The most recent Supreme Court
decision interpreting the Second Amendment is McDonald v. Chicago.
• Third Amendment: prohibits the government from using private homes as quarters for soldiers during peacetime
without the consent of the owners. The only existing case law directly regarding this amendment is a lower court
decision in the case of Engblom v. Carey.[17] However, it is also cited in the landmark case, Griswold v.
Connecticut, in support of the Supreme Court's holding that the constitution protects the right to personal privacy.
• Fourth Amendment: guards against searches, arrests, and seizures of property without a specific warrant or a
"probable cause" to believe a crime has been committed. Some rights to privacy have been inferred from this
amendment and others by the Supreme Court.
• Fifth Amendment: forbids trial for a major crime except after indictment by a grand jury; prohibits double
jeopardy (repeated trials), except in certain very limited circumstances; forbids punishment without due process
of law; and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself (this is also known as
"Taking the Fifth" or "Pleading the Fifth"). This is regarded as the "rights of the accused" amendment, otherwise
known as the Miranda rights after the Supreme Court case. It also prohibits government from taking private
property for public use without "just compensation", the basis of eminent domain in the United States.
• Sixth Amendment: guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses. It requires trial by a jury, guarantees the
right to legal counsel for the accused, and guarantees that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and
testify in the presence of the accused. It also guarantees the accused a right to know the charges against him. The
Sixth Amendment has several court cases associated with it, including Powell v. Alabama, United States v. Wong
Kim Ark, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Crawford v. Washington. In 1966, the Supreme Court ruled that the fifth
amendment prohibition on forced self-incrimination and the sixth amendment clause on right to counsel were to
be made known to all persons placed under arrest, and these clauses have become known as the Miranda rights.
• Seventh Amendment: assures trial by jury in civil cases.
• Eighth Amendment: forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.
• Ninth Amendment: declares that the listing of individual rights in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is not meant
to be comprehensive; and that the other rights not specifically mentioned are retained by the people.
• Tenth Amendment: reserves to the states respectively, or to the people, any powers the Constitution did not
delegate to the United States, nor prohibit the states from exercising.
Subsequent amendments (11 to 27)

Amendments to the Constitution after the Bill of Rights cover many subjects. The majority of the seventeen later
amendments stem from continued efforts to expand individual civil or political liberties, while a few are concerned
with modifying the basic governmental structure drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. Although the United States
Constitution has been amended 27 times, only 26 of the amendments are currently in effect because the twenty-first
amendment supersedes the eighteenth.
• Eleventh Amendment (1795): Clarifies judicial power over foreign nationals, and limits ability of citizens to sue
states in federal courts and under federal law. (Full text)
• Twelfth Amendment (1804): Changes the method of presidential elections so that members of the Electoral
College cast separate ballots for president and vice president. (Full text)
• Thirteenth Amendment (1865): Abolishes slavery and authorizes Congress to enforce abolition. (Full text)
• Fourteenth Amendment (1868): Defines a set of guarantees for United States citizenship; prohibits states from
abridging citizens' privileges or immunities and rights to due process and the equal protection of the law; repeals
the Three-fifths compromise; prohibits repudiation of the federal debt caused by the Civil War. (Full text)
• Fifteenth Amendment (1870): Prohibits the federal government and the states from using a citizen's race, color, or
previous status as a slave as a qualification for voting. (Full text)
• Sixteenth Amendment (1913): Authorizes unapportioned federal taxes on income. (Full text)
• Seventeenth Amendment (1913): Converts state election of senators to popular election. (Full text)
• Eighteenth Amendment (1919): Prohibited the manufacturing, importing, and exporting of alcoholic beverages
(see Prohibition in the United States). Repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment. (Full text)
• Nineteenth Amendment (1920): Prohibits the federal government and the states from forbidding any citizen to
vote due to their sex. (Full text)
• Twentieth Amendment (1933): Changes details of congressional and presidential terms and of presidential
succession. (Full text)
• Twenty-first Amendment (1933): Repeals Eighteenth Amendment. Permits states to prohibit the importation of
alcoholic beverages. (Full text)
• Twenty-second Amendment (1951): Limits president to two terms. (Full text)
• Twenty-third Amendment (1961): Grants presidential electors to the District of Columbia. (Full text)
• Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964): Prohibits the federal government and the states from requiring the payment of
a tax as a qualification for voting for federal officials. (Full text)
• Twenty-fifth Amendment (1967): Changes details of presidential succession, provides for temporary removal of
president, and provides for replacement of the vice president. (Full text)
• Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971): Prohibits the federal government and the states from forbidding any citizen of
age 18 or greater to vote on account of their age. (Full text)
• Twenty-seventh Amendment (1992): Limits congressional pay raises. (Full text)
Unratified amendments
Of the thirty-three amendments that have been proposed by Congress, six have failed ratification by the required
three-quarters of the state legislatures, and four of those six are still technically pending before state lawmakers (see
Coleman v. Miller). Starting with the 18th Amendment, each proposed amendment has included a deadline for
passage, except the 19th Amendment (women's voting) and the Child Labor Amendment, proposed in 1924 and still
unratified. The following are the unratified proposals:
• The Congressional Apportionment Amendment, proposed by the 1st Congress on September 25, 1789, defined a
formula for how many members there would be in the United States House of Representatives after each
decennial census. Ratified by eleven states, the last being Kentucky in June 1792 during Kentucky's initial month
of statehood, this amendment contains no expiration date for ratification. In principle it may yet be ratified,
though as written it became irrelevant when the population of the United States reached ten million.
• The so-called missing thirteenth amendment, or "Titles of Nobility Amendment" (TONA), proposed by the 11th
Congress on May 1, 1810, would have ended the citizenship of any American accepting "any Title of Nobility or
Honour" from any foreign power. Some maintain that the amendment was ratified by the legislatures of enough
states, and that a conspiracy has suppressed it, but this has been thoroughly debunked.[18] Known to have been
ratified by lawmakers in twelve states, the last in 1812, this amendment contains no expiration date for
ratification. It may yet be ratified.
• The Corwin Amendment, proposed by the 36th Congress on March 2, 1861, would have forbidden any attempt to
subsequently amend the Constitution to empower the federal government to "abolish or interfere" with the
"domestic institutions" of the states (a delicate way of referring to slavery). It was ratified by only Ohio and
Maryland lawmakers before the outbreak of the Civil War. Illinois lawmakers—sitting as a state constitutional
convention at the time—likewise approved it, but that action is of questionable validity. The proposed amendment
contains no expiration date for ratification and may yet be ratified. However, adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th
Amendments after the Civil War likely means that the amendment would be ineffective if adopted.
• A child labor amendment proposed by the 68th Congress on June 2, 1924. It provides, "The Congress shall have
power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons under eighteen years of age." This amendment is highly
unlikely to be ratified, since subsequent federal child labor laws have uniformly been upheld as a valid exercise of
Congress's powers under the Commerce Clause.
Expired deadlines. This category is separate from the other four unratified constitutional amendments. These two
were not ratified by their deadlines and they have expired.
• The Equal Rights Amendment, or ERA, which reads in pertinent part "Equality of rights under the law shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex." Proposed by the 92nd Congress on
March 22, 1972, it was ratified by the legislatures of 35 states, and expired on either March 22, 1979 or on June
30, 1982, depending upon one's point of view of a controversial three-year extension of the ratification deadline,
which was passed by the 95th Congress in 1978. Of the 35 states ratifying it, four later rescinded their
ratifications before the extended ratification period which began on March 23, 1979 and a fifth, while not going
so far as to rescind its earlier ratification, adopted a resolution stipulating that its approval would not extend
beyond March 22, 1979. There continues to be disagreement over whether such reversals are valid; no court has
ruled on the question, including the Supreme Court. A precedent against the validity of rescission was first
established during the ratification process of the 14th Amendment when Ohio and New Jersey rescinded their
earlier approvals, but yet were counted as ratifying states when the 14th Amendment was ultimately proclaimed
part of the Constitution in 1868.
• The District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment was proposed by the 95th Congress on August 22, 1978.
Had this amendment been ratified, it would have granted to Washington, D.C. two Senators and at least one
member of the House of Representatives as though the District of Columbia were a state. Ratified by the
legislatures of only 16 states (out of the required 38), the proposed amendment expired on August 22, 1985.
Criticism of the Constitution

Several academics have criticized the Constitution for specific shortcomings. University of Virginia professor Larry
Sabato wants an amendment to organize primaries to prevent a "frontloaded calendar" long before the election to
prevent a "race by states to the front of the primary pack" which subverts the national interest, in his view.[19] Sabato
details more objections in his book A More Perfect Constitution.[19] Richard Labunski agrees with Sabato about the
"incoherent organization of primaries and caucuses,"[20] and faults the Constitution for enabling presidents to
continue unpopular wars,[20] for requiring presidents to be "natural born citizens",[20] for lifetime tenure for Supreme
Court judges which "produces senior judges representing the views of past generations better than views of the
current day."[20] He writes "If the 26 least populated states voted as a bloc, they would control the U.S. Senate with a
total of just under 17% of the country’s population."[20]
University of Texas law professor Sanford Levinson also wonders whether it makes sense to give "Wyoming the
same number of votes as California, which has roughly seventy times the population".[21] He thinks this imbalance
causes a "steady redistribution of resources from large states to small states."[21] Levinson is critical of the Electoral
College since it allows the possibility of electing presidents who do not win the majority of votes.[21] Three times in
American history, presidents have been elected by the Electoral College despite failing to win the popular vote: 1876
(Rutherford B. Hayes), 1888 (Benjamin Harrison) and 2000 (George W. Bush).[22] [23] [24] [25] The current
Constitution does not give the people a quick way to remove incompetent or ill presidents, in his view.[25] Others
have criticized the politically driven redistricting process popularly known as gerrymandering.[26]
Yale professor Robert A. Dahl sees a problem with an American tendency towards worship of the Constitution itself,
and sees aspects of American governance which are "unusual and potentially undemocratic: the federal system, the
bicameral legislature, judicial review, presidentialism, and the electoral college system."[27] Levinson and Labunski
and others have called for a Second Constitutional Convention,[28] although professors like Dahl believe there is no
real hope this might ever happen.[27]
Translations
The Constitution has been translated into many languages:
• Arabic[29] [30]
• Catalan[31]
• Chinese[32] [33]
• Dutch[34]
• Finnish
• French[35]
• Georgian
• German[36] [37]
• Hebrew[38]
• Hungarian[39]
• Italian[40]
• Japanese[41]
• Korean[42]
• Portuguese[43]
• Russian[44]
• Slovak[45]
• Spanish[46] [47] [48] [49] [50]
• Swedish
• Thai
• Ukrainian[51]
Professor James Chen has annotated the Spanish translation prepared by the U.S. State Department.[52] His notes
focus on the problems and nuances of this translation.
Nguyen Canh Binh has translated the Constitution into Vietnamese.[53]
The Bill of Rights has been translated into Hawaiian.[54]
There is a partial translation of the Bill of Rights into Esperanto.[55]
The Federal Judicial Center has links to other materials about the United States government and judicial system.[48]
The site has materials in 16 languages besides English, such as Indonesian, Malay, Serb, and Vietnamese.
Original pages of the Constitution
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Commemoration on U.S. postage

In 1937 the U.S. Post Office released a commemorative postage stamp
celebrating the 150th anniversary of the signing of the U.S.
Constitution. The engraving on this issue is after an 1856 painting [56]
by Junius Brutus Stearns of Washington and shows delegates signing
the Constitution at the 1787 Convention.
Notes
Issue of 1937, 150th Anniversary of signing
[1] WikiSource. "WikiSource: Constitution of the United States of America" (http:/ / en.
wikisource. org/ wiki/ Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America). . Retrieved
2007-12-16.
[2] Library of Congress. "Primary Documents in American History: The United States Constitution" (http:/ / www. loc. gov/ rr/ program/ bib/
ourdocs/ Constitution. html). . Retrieved 2007-12-16.
[3] National Constitution Center (http:/ / www. ushistory. org/ tour/ constitution-center. htm)
[4] Casey (1974)
[5] Christian G. Fritz, American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War (Cambridge University
Press, 2008) at p. 131 [ISBN 978-0-521-88188-3 (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=ZpKCvUacmSwC& pg=RA1-PA168&
lpg=RA1-PA168& dq=christian+ g+ fritz+ "american+ sovereigns"& source=web& ots=UjY_WKHNjv&
sig=Y2_7OZMg6ksk_866oiD44FArH-w& hl=en#PRA1-PA1,M1) (noting that "Madison, along with other Americans clearly understood" the
Articles of Confederation "to be the first federal Constitution.")
[6] NARA. "National Archives Article on the Constitutional Convention" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html). .
Retrieved 2007-12-16.
[7] National Archives and Records Administration. "National Archives Article on the Constitution" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/
charters/ constitution_transcript. html). . Retrieved 2008-09-01.
[8] WikiSource. "Articles of Confederation" (http:/ / en. wikisource. org/ wiki/ Articles_of_Confederation). . Retrieved 2009-07-18.
[9] NARA. "National Archives Article on James Madison" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html). . Retrieved
2007-12-16.
[10] NARA. "National Archives Article on the Entire Constitutional Convention" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html).
. Retrieved December 16, 2007.
[11] NARA. "National Archives Article on William Paterson" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html). . Retrieved
2007-12-16.
[12] NARA. "National Archives Article on Roger Sherman" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html). . Retrieved
2007-12-16.
[13] Section 2 of Article I provides in part: "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states . . . 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."
[14] See South Carolina Declaration of Causes in Seccession [sic?] (December 24, 1860), reprinted in Richard Hofstadter, Great Issues in
American History. Volume II, Vintage Books (1958), p.76-7; Abraham Lincoln, Message to Congress (July 4, 1861) reprinted in Hofstadter,
supra.
[15] NARA. "National Archives Article on the Bill of Rights" (http:/ / www. archives. gov/ exhibits/ charters/ charters. html). . Retrieved
2007-12-16.
[16] Lutz, Donald (1994). Toward a theory of constitutional amendment.
[17] "Findlaw.com" (http:/ / caselaw. lp. findlaw. com/ data/ constitution/ amendment03/ ). Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[18] "The Missing Thirteenth Amendment" (http:/ / www. thirdamendment. com/ missing. html). Thirdamendment.com. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[19] By Larry J. Sabato (September 26, 2007). "An amendment is needed to fix the primary mess" (http:/ / www. usatoday. com/ printedition/
news/ 20070926/ opcomwednesday. art. htm). USA Today. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[20] Richard Labunski interviewed by Policy Today's Dan Schwartz (18 October 2007). "Time for a Second Constitutional Convention?" (http:/ /
www. policytoday. com/ index. php?option=com_content& task=view& id=258& Itemid=148). Policy Today. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[21] Reviewed by Robert Justin Lipkin (January, 2007). "OUR UNDEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION: WHERE THE CONSTITUTION GOES
WRONG (AND HOW WE THE PEOPLE CAN CORRECT IT)" (http:/ / www. bsos. umd. edu/ gvpt/ lpbr/ subpages/ reviews/ levinson0107.
htm). Widener University School of Law. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[22] "Popular vote, Electoral College vote at odds?" (http:/ / www. usatoday. com/ news/ opinion/ benedetto/ 230. htm). USA Today. November
2008. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[23] Levinson, Sanford (2006). Our undemocratic constitution: where the constitution goes wrong (and how we the people can correct it) (http:/ /
books. google. com/ ?id=ZHQ8z2MAZToC& pg=PT30& lpg=PT30& dq="our+ undemocratic+ constitution"+ critic?+ review?& q=). New
York: Oxford University Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-19-530751-1. .

[24] Randall Kennedy (May 12, 2008). "Books: Randall Kennedy" (http:/ / www. newsweek. com/ id/ 135401). Newsweek. . Retrieved
2009-09-20.
[25] Nora Krug (reviewer) (March 23, 2008). "Radical Re-readings -- OUR UNDEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION Where the Constitution Goes
Wrong (And How We the People Can Correct It) By Sanford Levinson" (http:/ / www. washingtonpost. com/ wp-dyn/ content/ article/ 2008/
03/ 20/ AR2008032003015. html). Washington Post. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[26] Macedo, Stephen (August 11, 2008). "Toward a more democratic Congress? Our imperfect democratic constitution: the critics examined"
(http:/ / docs. google. com/ gview?a=v& q=cache:Q33mcnJC4pkJ:www. bu. edu/ law/ central/ jd/ organizations/ journals/ bulr/ volume89n2/
documents/ MACEDO. pdf+ "our+ undemocratic+ constitution"+ critic?+ review?& hl=en& gl=us& pli=1). Boston University Law Review
(Boston University Law Review) 89: 609–628. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[27] Robert A. Dahl (February 11, 2002). "How Democratic Is the American Constitution?" (http:/ / yalepress. yale. edu/ yupbooks/ book.
asp?isbn=0300092180). Yale University Press. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[28] "Professor Stanford Levinson Proposes a New Constitutional Convention" (http:/ / lawweb. colorado. edu/ news/ showArticle. jsp?id=434).
Colorado Law -- Univ. of Colorado at Boulder. January 25, 2008. . Retrieved 2009-09-20.
[29] "Arabic-Constitution-2" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ Arabic-Constitution-2. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved
2010-03-17.
[30] "‫ ةيكريمألا ةدحتملا تايالولا روتسد‬- ‫( "ةيكريمألا ةدحتملا تايالولا روتسد‬http:/ / www. america. gov/ ar/ publications/ books/ the-constitution.
html). America.gov. . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[31] "The Constitution Papers CD. Service of Linguistics Technology" (http:/ / www. ub. edu/ stel/ constitution. htm) (PDF). . Retrieved
2010-10-08.
[32] "Simplified Chinese translation" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ SCH-Constitution. pdf) (PDF). .
[33] "Constitution of the United States (1787)" (http:/ / usinfo. org/ zhtw/ PUBS/ BasicReadings/ 6. htm). Usinfo.org. . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[34] http:/ / www. theusa. nl/ bestuursamenleving/ grondwetamerika-nl. htm
[35] "French translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ French Constitution 8-19.
pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[36] "German Constitution 8-19" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ German Constitution 8-19. pdf) (PDF). .
[37] "Verfassung" (http:/ / usa. usembassy. de/ etexts/ gov/ gov-constitutiond. pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[38] "U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / israel. usembassy. gov/ publish/ constitution/ p1. html). Israel.usembassy.gov. . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[39] "Hungarian translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / hungarian. hungary. usembassy. gov/ constitution_in_hungarian. html).
Hungarian.hungary.usembassy.gov. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[40] "Italian translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ Italian Constitution 8-19. pdf)
(PDF). . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[41] "Japanese translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / aboutusa. japan. usembassy. gov/ j/ jusaj-constitution. html).
Aboutusa.japan.usembassy.gov. 2009-03-13. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[42] "Korean translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ KOR-Constitution. pdf)
[43] "Portuguese translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ Port Constitution 8-19.
pdf) (PDF). . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[44] "Russian translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / constitutioncenter. org/ Images/ constitution translations/ RU-Constitution. pdf)
[45] http:/ / slovakia. usembassy. gov/ 20090618_us_constitution_slovak. pdf
[46] "Spanish translation of the U.S. Constitution" (http:/ / www. cato. org/ pubs/ constitution/ constitution_en. html). Cato.org. . Retrieved
2009-05-04.
[47] http:/ / www. constitution. org/ cons/ usa_span. htm
[48] "International Judicial Relations — Translated Material" (http:/ / www. fjc. gov/ ijr/ home. nsf/ page/ transl_mat#United). Fjc.gov. .
[49] "United States of America: Constitución de 1787 en español" (http:/ / pdba. georgetown. edu/ Constitutions/ USA/ eeuu1787. html).
Pdba.georgetown.edu. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[50] "Constitución de los Estados Unidos de América — The U.S. Constitution Online" (http:/ / www. usconstitution. net/ const_sp. html).
USConstitution.net. 2010-01-24. . Retrieved 2010-03-17.
[51] http:/ / kyiv. usembassy. gov/ files/ american_constitution_ukr. pdf
[52] "SSRN-The Constitution of the United States in Spanish: A Service for the American People (La Constitucion de los Estados Unidos en
Espanol: Un Servicio para el Pueblo Americano) by James Ming Chen" (http:/ / papers. ssrn. com/ sol3/ papers. cfm?abstract_id=925271#).
Papers.ssrn.com. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[53] "Alphabooks" (http:/ / alphabooks. vn/ web/ SearchResult. aspx?cmd=search& key=Hiáº¿n phÃ¡p Má»¹ ÄÆ°á»£c lÃ m ra nhÆ° tháº¿
nÃ o). Alphabooks.vn. . Retrieved 2009-05-04.
[54] http:/ / www. jpfo. org/ pdf/ bor-Hawaiian. pdf
[55] Česky. "Usona Konstitucio — Vikipedio" (http:/ / eo. wikipedia. org/ wiki/ Usona_Konstitucio) (in (Esperanto)). Eo.wikipedia.org. .
[56] http:/ / commons. wikimedia. org/ w/ index. php?title=File:Washington_Constitutional_Convention_1787. jpg
References
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• "The Avalon Project: Notes on the Debates in the Federal Convention" (http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/
debates/debcont.htm). The Avalon Project at Yale Law School. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
• Bailyn, Bernard, ed. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters
During the Struggle for Ratification. Part One: September 1787 to February 1788 ( The Library of America (http:/
/www.loa.org/), 1993) ISBN 0-940450-42-9
• Bailyn, Bernard, ed. The Debate on the Constitution: Federalist and Antifederalist Speeches, Articles, and Letters
During the Struggle for Ratification. Part Two: January to August 1788 ( The Library of America (http://www.
loa.org/), 1993) ISBN 0-940450-64-X
• Elliot, Jonathan, Debates in the Several State Conventions of the Adoption of the Federal Constitution 5 vols
(http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php?title=1904&
Itemid=99999999''The) Vol. 1, Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Articles of Confederation, Journal of
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Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vol. 3, Virginia, Vol. 4, North. and South. Carolina, Resolutions, Tariffs, Banks, Debt,
Vol. 5 Debates in Congress, Madison’s Notes, Misc. Letters
• Ford, Paul Leicester, ed. on the Constitution of the United States, published during its Discussion by the People,
1787-1788 (http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php?title=1670&
Itemid=99999999''Pamphlets), edited with notes and a bibliography by Paul Leicester Ford (Brooklyn, N.Y.,
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Richard Henry Lee, George Mason, and David Ramsay. The essay attributed to Gerry was in fact written by
Mercy Otis Warren.
• Garvey, John H. ed. Modern Constitutional Theory: A Reader 5th ed 2004; 820pp.
• Kaminski, John P. ed Documentary History of the Ratification of the Constitution, 1976- (Published volumes
1-10, 13-23, forthcoming volumes 11-12, 24-29. Most recent volume: The Documentary History of the
Ratification of the Constitution, Vol. 23, Ratification by the States: New York, No. 5 ISBN 978-0-87020-439-5),
Madison, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, (http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ratification) Edited by
John P. Kaminski, Gaspare J. Saladino,Richard Leffler, Charles H. Schoenleber and Margaret A. Hogan.
• Kurland, Philip B. and Lerner, Ralph, eds. The Founders' Constitution. The work consists of “extracts from the
leading works of political theory, history, law, and constitutional argument on which the Framers and their
contemporaries drew and which they themselves produced.” ( Liberty Fund (http://www.libertyfund.org/./
details.aspx?id=1640) ISBN 0-86597-279-6) The Online Edition (http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/) is
a joint venture of the University of Chicago Press and the Liberty Fund.
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and Selected Cases (14th Edition) (2004)
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• Hall, Kermit, ed. The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States. Oxford U. Press, 1992. 1032
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• Amar, Akhil Reed (2005). "In the Beginning". America's Constitution: A Biography. New York: Random House.
ISBN 1-4000-6262-4.
• Anastaplo, George, "Reflections on Constitutional Law" 2006 ISBN 0-8131-9156-4
• Beard, Charles. An Economic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (http://ideas.repec.org/b/
hay/hetboo/beard1913.html), 1913.
• Richard R. Beeman, Stephen Botein, and Edward C., Carter, II, eds., Beyond Confederation: Origins of the
Constitution and American National Identity (University of North Carolina Press, 1987);
• Bernstein, Richard B. Are We to Be a Nation? The Making of the Constitution (Harvard University Press, 1987);
• Bernstein, Richard B. Amending America: If We Love the Constitution So Much, Why Do We Keep Trying to
Change It? (New York: Times Books/Random House, 1993; Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1995);
• Gregory Casey. "The Supreme Court and Myth: An Empirical Investigation," Law & Society Review, Vol. 8, No.
3 (Spring, 1974), pp. 385–420
• Cooley, Thomas, The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America, Third Edition
(http://books.google.com/books?id=7-g9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&
cad=0), revised by Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin, Boston, Little, Brown, and Company, 1898.
• Cooley, Thomas, A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations (http://books.google.com/
books?id=ibwDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=2), Boston.
Little, Brown and Company, 1878.
• Countryman, Edward, ed. What Did the Constitution Mean to Early Americans.Bedford/St. Martin's, 1999. xii +
169 pp. online review (http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showrev.php?path=28656930163675) ISBN
0-312-18262-7.
• Edling, Max M. (2003). A Revolution in Favor of Government: Origins of the U.S. Constitution and the Making
of the American State. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-514870-3.
• Ely, James W., Jr. The Guardian of Every Other Right: A Constitutional History of Property Rights. Oxford U.
Press, 1992. 193 pp.
• Fallon, Richard H. (2004). The Dynamic Constitution: An Introduction to American Constitutional Law.
Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84094-5.
• Finkelman, Paul. Slavery and the Founders: Race and Slavery in the Age of Jefferson (M.E. Sharpe, 1996);
• Fritz, Christian G. American Sovereigns: The People and America's Constitutional Tradition Before the Civil War
(Cambridge University Press, 2008) [ISBN 978-0-521-88188-3 (http://books.google.com/
books?id=ZpKCvUacmSwC&pg=RA1-PA168&lpg=RA1-PA168&dq=christian+g+fritz+"american+
sovereigns"&source=web&ots=UjY_WKHNjv&sig=Y2_7OZMg6ksk_866oiD44FArH-w&
hl=en#PRA1-PA1,M1)
• Hoffer, Peter Charles. The Law's Conscience: Equitable Constitutionalism in America. U. of North Carolina
Press, 1990. 301 pp.
• Irons, Peter. A People's History of the Supreme Court. 2000. 542 pp.
• Kammen, Michael (1986). A Machine that Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-394-52905-7.
• Kelly, Alfred Hinsey; Harbison, Winfred Audif; Belz, Herman (1991). The American Constitution: its origins and
development (7th ed.). New York: Norton & Co. ISBN 0-393-96119-2.
• Kersch, Ken I. Constructing Civil Liberties: Discontinuities in the Development of American Constitutional Law.
Cambridge University Press, 2004. 392 pp.
• Kyvig, David E. Explicit and Authentic Acts: Amending the U.S. Constitution, 1776–1995 (Lawrence: University
Press of Kansas, 1996);
• Levin, Daniel Lessard. Representing Popular Sovereignty: The Constitution in American Political Culture. State
U. of New York Press., 1999. 283 pp.
• Licht, Robert A., ed. The Framers and Fundamental Rights. American Enterprise Inst. Press, 1991. 194 pp.
• Manley, John F. and Dolbeare, Kenneth M., ed (1987). The Case Against the Constitution: From the
Anti-Federalists to the Present. M.E. Sharpe. ISBN 0-87332-432-3.
• Marshall, Thurgood, "The Constitution: A Living Document," Howard Law Journal 1987: 623-28.
• Paschal, George Washington, The Constitution of the United States Defined and Carefully Annotated (http://
books.google.com/books?id=VLKwVdPbmPkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Constitution+of+the+
United+States+defined+and+carefully+annotated+-+Paschal,+George+W.&cd=1) Washington DC, 1868
• Powell, H. Jefferson. A Community Built on Words: The Constitution in History and Politics. University of
Chicago Press, 2002. 251 pp.
• Rakove, Jack N. Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution. Knopf, 1996. 455 pp.
• Sandoz, Ellis. A Government of Laws: Political Theory, Religion, and the American Founding. Louisiana State U.
Press, 1990. 259 pp.
• Sheldon, Charles H. Essentials of Constitutional Law: The Supreme Court and the Fundamental Law (2001) 208
pp
• Spalding, Matthew, & Forte, David F., eds. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, Regnery Publishing,
Washington, D.C., 2005. ( A limited preview is available at Google Books. (http://books.google.com/
books?id=-_8N3UeXeesC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Heritage+Guide+Constitution&cd=1))
• Story, Joseph, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: Volume I (http://books.google.com/
books?id=KyATAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0), Commentaries on
the Constitution of the United States: Volume II (http://books.google.com/books?id=VZQPBIhVPsMC&
printsec=titlepage) and Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States: Volume III (http://books.google.
com/books?id=1CATAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0), (3 vols.,
1833), a work of profound learning which is still the standard treatise on the subject. Story published a One
Volume Abridgment (http://books.google.com/books?id=fh4TAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&
source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0) the same year.
• Story, Joseph, A Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (http://books.google.com/
books?id=Aew9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0), Boston, Marsh,
Capen, Lyon & Webb, 1840.
• VanBurkleo, Sandra F.; Hall, Kermit L.; and Kaczorowski, Robert J., eds. Constitutionalism and American
Culture: Writing the New Constitutional History. University Press of Kansas, 2002. 464 pp.
• Mazzone, Jason (2005). "The Creation of a Constitutional Culture" (http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.
cfm?abstract_id=831927). Tulsa Law Review 40 (4): 671.
• Smith, Jean Edward; Levine, Herbert M. (1988). Civil Liberties & Civil Rights Debated. Englewood Cliffs, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
• Smith, Jean Edward (1989). The Constitution and American Foreign Policy. St. Paul, MN: West Publishing
Company.
• White, G. Edward. The Constitution and the New Deal. Harvard University Press, 2000. 385 pp.
• Wiecek, William M., "The Witch at the Christening: Slavery and the Constitution's Origins," Leonard W. Levy
and Dennis J. Mahoney, eds., The Framing and Ratification of the Constitution (Macmillan, 1987), 178-84.
• Willoughby, Westel Woodbury, Principles of the constitutional law of the United States (http://books.google.
com/books?id=CvI9AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0) New York,
Baker, Voorhis & Company, 1912.
Further reading
• Klos, Stanley L. (2004). President Who? Forgotten Founders. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Evisum, Inc.. p. 261.
ISBN 0-9752627-5-0.
External links
National Archives
• National Constitution Center (http://www.constitutioncenter.org/)
• The National Archives Experience—Constitution of the United States (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/
charters/charters.html)
• The National Archives Experience—High Resolution Downloads of the Charters of Freedom (http://www.
archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html)
• National Constitution Center's "Interactive Constitution" (http://ratify.constitutioncenter.org/constitution.html)
Official U.S. government sources

• Constitution and related resources (http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html): Library
of Congress
• Analysis and Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/
index.html): Annotated constitution, with descriptions of important cases (official publication of U.S. Senate)
Non-governmental web sites

• U.S. Constitution Online (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html)
• Mobile friendly (http://uscon.mobi) version of the Constitution
• Audio reading (http://www.law.uchicago.edu/constitution) of the Constitution in MP3 format provided by the
University of Chicago Law School
• Annotated Constitution (http://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/) by the Congressional Research Service of the
U.S. Library of Congress (hyperlinked version published by Cornell University)
Article Sources and Contributors 19
Article Sources and Contributors

United States Constitution Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=410651256 Contributors: "Country" Bushrod Washington, (jarbarf), *feridiák, -Demosthenes-, 166.82.201.xxx,
200.191.188.xxx, 28USC1344, 2nd Piston Honda, 3210, 3uler, ABF, AP1787, AVand, Aaron Schulz, Aaron7chicago, Aborell, Abrech, Abstation, Academic Challenger, Acalamari, Acegikmo1,
Adamlazzara, Adashiel, Addshore, AdultSwim, Aeon1006, Aetheling, AgnosticPreachersKid, Ahoerstemeier, Aitias, Ajc625, Ajd, Ajh16, Ajk91, Akbeancounter, Alan Peakall, Alansohn,
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Marchbanks, Andy120290, Andy85719, Angela, Anger22, Animum, Ann Stouter, Anomaly2002, AnonMoos, Anonymous anonymous, Anonymous56789, Antandrus, Antonio Lopez,
Anythingyouwant, Aoshisama1, Apollo1758, April Regina, Aquatics, Arakunem, Arch dude, Ardonik, Argyrios Saccopoulos, Arjun01, Arjun024, Asams10, Asbestos, Astroview120mm,
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors 20
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image:Constitution Pg1of4 AC.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Constitution_Pg1of4_AC.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Davepape, Diego pmc, Edge3,
Gorgo, Keeleysam, Krinkle, Man vyi, Selket, Spikebrennan, Str4nd, Tiptoety, Tom, UpstateNYer, Yonatanh, 10 anonymous edits
Image:Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States.png Source:
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Fvasconcellos, Hystrix, Interpretix, Keeleysam, Nagy, Pownerus, Tryphon, Túrelio, UpstateNYer, Yonatanh, 27 anonymous edits
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Gorgo, Keeleysam, Krinkle, Man vyi, Selket, Spikebrennan, Str4nd, Tiptoety, Tom, UpstateNYer, Yonatanh, 10 anonymous edits
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vyi, Pownerus, Tom, UpstateNYer, Yonatanh
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United States Constitution 1

United States Constitution

Page one of the original copy of the Constitution

Created September 17, 1787

Ratified June 21, 1788

Location National Archives, Washington, D.C.

Authors Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention

Signatories 39 of the 55 Philadelphia Convention delegates

Purpose National constitution to replace the Articles of Confederation

Drafting and ratification requirements

Work of the Constitutional Convention

Ratification of the Constitution

Date State Votes

1 December 7, 1787 Delaware 30 0

2 December 11, 1787 Pennsylvania 46 23

3 December 18, 1787 New Jersey 38 0

4 January 2, 1788 Georgia 26 0

5 January 9, 1788 Connecticut 128 40

6 February 6, 1788 Massachusetts 187 168

7 April 26, 1788 Maryland 63 11

8 May 23, 1788 South Carolina 149 73

9 June 21, 1788 New Hampshire 57 47

10 June 25, 1788 Virginia 89 79

11 July 26, 1788 New York 30 27

12 November 21, 1789 North Carolina 194 77

13 May 29, 1790 Rhode Island 34 32

Influences on the Bill of Rights

Articles of the Constitution

Preamble: Statement of purpose

—United States Constitution, Preamble

Article One: Legislative Power

Article Two: Executive power

Article Three: Judicial power

Article Four: States' powers and limits

Article Five: Amendments

Article Six: Federal power

Article Seven: Ratification

The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 to 10)

It is commonly understood that originally the Bill of Rights was

United States Bill of Rights currently housed in the

Subsequent amendments (11 to 27)

Criticism of the Constitution

Original pages of the Constitution

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

Commemoration on U.S. postage

York: Oxford University Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-19-530751-1. .

Baker, Voorhis & Company, 1912.

Official U.S. government sources

Non-governmental web sites

Article Sources and Contributors

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors

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