U.S. Constitution in the United States

The U.S. Constitution is the oldest and shortest written constitution of any national government in the world. More than 11,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress, but only 33 have gone to the states to be ratified, and 27 have actually become amendments to the Constitution.

The Articles

Articles

Article I Legislative Branch»
Article II Executive Branch»
Article III Judicial Branch»
Article IV States, Citizenship, New States»
Article V Amendment Process»
Article VI Debts, Supremacy, Oaths, Religious Tests»
Article VII Ratification»

The Amendments

The Bill of Rights

The first ten Amendments to the Constitution form the Bill of Rights.

Amendment 1 Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, and Petition»
Amendment 2 Right to Bear Arms»
Amendment 3 Quartering of Soldiers»
Amendment 4 Search and Seizure»
Amendment 5 Grand Jury, Double Jeopardy, Self-Incrimination, Due Process, Takings»
Amendment 6 Right to Speedy Trial by Jury, Witnesses, Counsel»
Amendment 7 Jury Trial in Civil Lawsuits»
Amendment 8 Excessive Fines, Cruel and Unusual Punishment»
Amendment 9 Non-Enumerated Rights Retained by People»
Amendment 10 Rights Reserved to States or People»

Amendments 11 – 27

Amendment 11 Suits Against States»
Amendment 12 Election of President and Vice President»
Amendment 13 Abolition of Slavery»
Amendment 14 Citizenship Rights, Equal Protection, Apportionment, Civil War Debt»
Amendment 15 Right to Vote Not Denied by Race»
Amendment 16 Income Tax»
Amendment 17 Popular Election of Senators»
Amendment 18 Prohibition of Liquor»
Amendment 19 Women’s Right to Vote»
Amendment 20 Presidential Term and Succession, Assembly of Congress»
Amendment 21 Repeal of Prohibition»
Amendment 22 Two-Term Limit on Presidency»
Amendment 23 Presidential Vote for D.C.»
Amendment 24 Abolition of Poll Taxes»
Amendment 25 Presidential Disability and Succession»
Amendment 26 Right to Vote at Age 18»
Amendment 27 Congressional Compensation»

Online Texts

Constitution of the United States of America as Amended: Unratified Amendments, Analytical Index (U.S. Government Printing Office) July 25, 2007; H.Doc. 110-50 in both text and PDF
Constitution of the United States, Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States (Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service, via GPO FDsys) 2002 edition (S.Doc. 108-17) PDF with June 29, 2010 supplement (S.Doc. 111-39) PDF
U.S. Constitution (Library of Congress. National Digital Library Program) from Annals of Congress, volume 1
U.S. Constitution (National Archives and Records Administration) links to amendments which amend the Constitution; provides images of the original document
U.S. Constitution (U.S. House of Representatives) 1787 full text; with footnotes and links to documents
U.S. Constitution (Cornell Law School. Legal Information Institute) with links to annotations
United States Index (University of Wuerzburg, International Constitutional Law project) with Background Note, and a key number system to located parts; links to other editions
Constitution du 17 septembre 1787 (Juristisches Internetprojeket Saarbruken) in French
United States of America: Constitutions / Constituciones (Georgetown University Political Database of the Americas) in English and Spanish
National Constitution Center: Other Languages includes PDF copies of the Constitution in Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese

U.S. Constitution