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to "Constitutionally Yours" Web Site. We solicit your help to restore the Constitution and to
rescue it from the Supreme Court, Politicians, and Ex-President Bush who appear to be doing
their best to make it into nothing more than a piece of paper with no legal standing.
If you have never read these documents which acknowledge your rights or if you need to refresh
your memory ... now is the time to take another look.
Remember ... Governments do not grant you your rights.
***THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION***
Article 1 through Article 7
(Numbered Comments will be enclosed as you read.)
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect,
union, establish, justice, insure the domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to our-selves and our posterity,
do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
ARTICLE 1
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 1. 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.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 2. 1. The House of Representative shall be composed
of members chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in
each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of
the State legislature.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 2. 2. No person shall be a representative who shall not have attained to
the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall
not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 2. 3. Representatives and direct taxes(#1) shall be apportioned among the
several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers,
which shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound
to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxes, three fifths of all other
persons.(#2) The actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of
the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of ten years, in such manner
as they shall by law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
thousand, but each State shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall
be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four,
Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina
five, and Georgia three.
(#1) See the 16th Amendment. A change in the method of taxation from a head tax to a tax on
income.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 2. 4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the
executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 2. 5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker and other
officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two
senators from each state, chosen by the legislature thereof,(#3) for six years; and each senator
shall have one vote.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of the first
election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the
senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second
class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the
sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by
resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any State, the executive
thereof may make temporary appointments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall
then fill such vacancies.(#3)
(#3) See the 17th Amendment. Change in the method of election of Senators. Previously they were
chosen by the legislature of each State. Now they are chosen by the people of each State.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 3. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to the age
Of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 4. The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the
Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 5. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a president
pro tempore, in the absense of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of
President of the United States.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When
sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the
United States is tried, the chief justice shall preside and no person shall be convicted without
the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 3. 7. Judgement in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to
removal from office, and disqualifications to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit
under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to
indictment, trial, judgement and punishment, according to law.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 4. 1. The times, places and manner of holding elections for
senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legislature thereof;
but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations, except at to the places
of choosing senators.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 4. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by law appoint a different
day.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 5. 1. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns
and qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do
business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the
attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 5. 2. Each House may determine the rules of its
proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two
thirds, expel a member.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 5. 3. Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to
time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgement require secrecy; and the
yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one fifth
of those present, be entered on the journal.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 5. 4. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the
consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in
which the two Houses shall be sitting.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 6. 1. The senators and representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the
United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and
in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they
shall not be questioned in any other place.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 6. 2. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which he was
elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall
have been created, or the emoulments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no
person holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House during his
continuance in office.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 7. 1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 7. 2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and
the Senate, shall, before it becomes a law, be presented to the President of the United States;
if he approves he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections to that House
in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and
proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it
shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a
law. But in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and
the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each
House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sundays
excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as
if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case
it shall not be a law.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 7. 3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the
Senate and the House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment)
shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect,
shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the
Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the
case of a bill.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. The Congress shall have the power:
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and
excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United
States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 2. To borrow money on the credit of the United
States;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations,
and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization,
and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof,
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting
the securities and current coin of the United States.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 7. To establish post offices and post roads;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 8. To promote the progress of science and useful
arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their
respective writings and discoveries;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the
Supreme Court;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 10. To define and punish piracies and felonies
committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 11. To declare war, grant letters of Marque and
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 12. To raise and support armies, but no
appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;(#4)
(#4 The Colonialists feared standing armies. They were used by King George against them and
they thought that these armies might be used by the Federalist government against them. So
they decided that they would finance for only a two year period. These appropriations would
have to be reviewed and renewed.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 13. To provide and maintain a navy;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 14. To make rules for the government and
regulation of the land and naval forces;
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 15. To make rules for calling forth the militia
to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions;(#5)
(#5 The militia were made up of citizens that could be called up in an emergency.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 16. To provide for the organizing, arming, and
disciplining the militia,and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service
of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers,
and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
(#6)
(#6 The Citizens Militia became the National Guard when they were called up. Otherwise the
Militia were ordinary citizens who were armed at their own expense.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 17. To exercise legislation in all cases
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the
United States, and to exercise the authority over all places purchased by the consent of the
legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines,
arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings; and
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 8. 18. 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 1.SECTION 9. 1. The migration or importation of such persons
as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the
Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be
imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus
shall not be suspended,unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may
require it.(#7)
(#7 Habeas corpus means that when arrested for any crime, the government had to produce the
body of the person on request for the trial. They could not just lock you in a dungeon
and throw away the key. The only case in which this could be suspended is if there were
a rebellion inside the United States or and invasion by a foreign army. President Bush may
argue for suspending the Habeas corpus rights and declaring martial law if there were a terrorist
attack or "false flag" operation just before the 2008 elections.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law
shall be passed.(#8)
(#8 Bill of attainder - This meant that no written document could be passed by a legislature
removing the civil rights of a person and sentencing him to death or outlawry without a
judicial trial. Ex post facto law - No law could be passed having a retroactive effect, whereby
a citizen was made an outlaw or a criminal for doing something he was previously allowed to do
under the laws of the land.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 4. No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be
laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. (#9)
(#9) See the 16th Amendment. Change of taxation from a head tax to an income tax.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles
exported from any State.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 6. No preference shall be given by any regulation
of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another: nor shall vessels bound
to, or from, one State be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 7. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but
in consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts
and expenditures of all public money shall be published from time to time.(#10)
(#10 No money can be spent from the treasury unless approved by Congress, who is to be provided
with an account of what the money was spent for. And that account had to be made public. There
have been plenty of instances when there was no Congressional oversight or accountability for
money that has been spent.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 9. 8. No title of nobility(#11) shall be granted by
the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall,
without the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any
kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State.
(#11 Lawyers are given more rights than citizens, in court, and in holding office. The office
of lawyer becomes part of an elite group, which is the same status as nobility.)
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 10. 1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance,
or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit;
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts;(#12) pass any bill of
attainder, ex post facto law, or law imparing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title
of nobility.(#11)
(#12 The Federal government has for years been devaluing our currency. First gold and silver
were removed as backing for our currency. There are no more silver certificates in circulation.
These were paper notes making silver payable to the bearer on demand. This happened during the
Kennedy administration. Remember the New Frontier? The government has simply borrowed money by
selling treasury notes and bonds (i.o.u.'s) that it has promised to pay back with interest and
when it could no longer balance its budget it borrowed from Social Security funds leaving only
a promise to repay them. This practice started during the Lyndon Johnson administration.
Remember the Great Society? As the National Debt outstripped the taxes government collected we
sank deeper in debt. In order to cover up this problem, Government had to tinker with the
interest rates to keep inflation down by hobbling your ability to get low interest loans. Today
no one even bothers to balance the budget and the presses keep cranking out more inflated
dollars. The more dollars in circulation the less each dollar buys. But the government spends
it first before you get it. The only Constitutional money is gold and silver. The present
spending and banking practices of the Federal government are patently unconstitutional.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 10. 2. No State shall, without the consent of the
Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties and imposts
laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the treasury of the United
States; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision and control of the Congress.
ARTICLE 1.SECTION 10. 3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops,(#13) or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement
or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.
(#13 National Guard are troops of the various States kept in readyness for reserve callup by
Congress and are maintained by consent of Congress.)
ARTICLE 2
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 1. The executive power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four
years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 2. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as
the legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of senators
and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no senator or
representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall
be appointed an elector.
(#14) Superseded by the 12th Amendment. A change
in the way the President and Vice President are chosen. In the case of Article 2. Section 1. 2.
Each of the Electors select
two persons. The person having the highest number of votes is President if the number of votes
for that person is a majority of the electors appointed by the States. If there is more than
one person having a majority of the electors (if they are tied in votes) then the House of
Representatives gets to decide who is the President. If there still is no majority for
President (a tie vote) when the House of Representatives votes, then the five highest vote
getters on the list are sent to the States (the Senate). The Senate then decides who is to be
President by a majority vote. The person then having the greatest number of votes of the
electors is chosen Vice President.
Notice that in Article 2. Section 1. 2. that the electors are appointed by the States
(the Senate) and if there is a tie then it goes to the House of Representatives (of the people)
and if there is another tie then the five highest vote getters are sent back to the States
(the Senate). From these the Senate selects one by a majority vote. This man becomes President.
Then the person having the greatest number of votes of the electors is Vice President. The
Senators (elected by the States) appoint the electors and then also select the President and the
Vice President. The only reason the House of Representatives gets into the act is an attempt to
break a tie vote. Now compare that State dominated election with what happenes in the 12th
Amendment.
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 3. The Congress may determine the time of choosing
of the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 4. No person except a natural born citizen of the
United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office
of President;(#15) neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained
to the age of thirty-five years, and have been fourteen years a resident within the United
States.
(#15 Some people want to strike out the natural born citizen clause, especially Arnold
Swartzenegger.)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 5. In case of the removal of the President from
office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the
said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide
for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the President and Vice
President, declaring what officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act
accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 6. The President shall, at stated times, receive
for his services a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any
other emolument from the United States, or any of them.(#16)
(#16 No double dipping!)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 1. 7. Before he enter on the execution of his office,
he shall take the following oath or affirmation: -- "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I
will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of
my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."(#17)
(#17 Not to do your best to slide the U.S. into the "New World Order" as some have done. How
many Presidents, Congressmen and other officers have violated that oath of office? Every time
you see someone elected to a Federal Office of Trust who violates that trust by introducing or
passing bills into law that violate the U.S. Constitution you should protest in writing to that
federal officer and then work to get him removed. Vote the rascals out!)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 2. 1. The President shall be commander in chief of the
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when called into
the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their
respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons(#18) for offenses
against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
(#18 Presidential pardons have always been political. They take care of their political
buddies!)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 2. 2. He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the senators present concur; and
he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint
ambassadors, other public ministers and counsuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other
officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and
which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such
inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the
heads of departments.
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 2. 3. The President shall have the power to fill up
all vacancies(#19) that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which
shall expire at the end of their next session.
(#19 Appointment of vacancies in senate by President until next election.)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the state of the Union,(#20) and recommend to their consideration such measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or
either of them, and in case of disagreement between them with respect to the time of adjournment,
he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and
other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall
commission all the officers of the United States.
(#20 What about lying to Congress by the President? A state of the union address should be
truthful, not an attempt to manipulate public opinion for his own devious purposes.)
ARTICLE 2.SECTION 4. The President, Vice President,and all civil officer
of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of,
treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.(#21)
(#21 Congress hasn't got the guts to clean house. Could it be that there are too many skeletons
in their own closets?)
ARTICLE 3
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their
offices during good behavior,(#22) and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a
compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office.
(#22 The Supreme Court is not a lifetime appointment. Only as long as they behave
themselves.)
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 2. 1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases,
in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties
made, or which shall be made, under their authority; -- to all cases affecting ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls; -- to all cases of admiralty(#23) and maritime jurisdiction; --
to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; -- to controversies between two
or more States; -- between a State and citizens of another State, (#24) -- between citizens of
different States; -- between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different
States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.
(#23 The admiralty flag is not a proper flag to be used in a citizen's jury trial. Citizens of
the United States are not under the jurisdiction of the admiralty. The admiralty flag has a
yellow fringe around the flag. Refuse any jury proceedings unless there is a proper flag in the
court room because you are not under the admiralty court.)
(#24 See the 11th Amendment. The Congress restricted the judicial power of the Federal Courts
to decide any lawsuit or equity controversy between any two or more States, between citizens of
any State within the United States and a State of the United States, or by any foreign country
or citizen of a foreign country and any State within the United States or citizen within any
State of the United States. This is an example of the restriction of Federal Courts by the
Congress.
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 2. 2. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Cout shall have
original jurisdiction.(#25) In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have
appeallate jurisdiction,(#25) both as to law and to fact, with such exceptions, and under such
regulations as the Congress shall make.(#26)
(#25 Two types of jurisdiction. Original - which is specifically granted in the
Constitution and Appelate - which means first you have to exhaust your appeal in the lower
courts and then you may appeal to the Supreme Court, but only if there is a Constitutional
question at stake.)
(#26 Congress can regulate and make exceptions to jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. In the case
of Eminent Domain, Congress can define the parameters of what the Supreme Court can rule on.
While the Supreme Court rules on the Constitutionality of existing law, it cannot create law.
Only Congress can do that.)
(Eminent Domain - That superior dominion of the soverign power over property within the state
which authorizes it to appropriate all or any part thereof to a necessary public use, reasonable
compensation being made. Notice: Public use, not private use, or corporate use!)
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 2. 3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of
impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such
place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 3. 1. Treason against the United States shall consist
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort.
No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses(#27) to the
same overt act, or on confession in open court.
(#27 The Bible says that there must be two or three witnesses to a crime and pronounces
judgement on the false witness. The false witness is to receive the punishment he sought
for the one he testified against falsely. Deuteronomy 17:6 - 19:15 - 19:16 to 21)
ARTICLE 3.SECTION 3. 2. The Congress shall have power to declare the
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood,(#28) or
forfeiture except during the life of the person attained.
(#28 The sins of the fathers may not be visited upon the children if they are innocent of the
crime. Deuteronomy 24:16 The children of the treasonous person are not required to forfeit their
rights as citizens to life, liberty and property merely because they were among the family of
the traitor. However the effects of that sin (or shame) may extend to the third and fourth
generation.)
ARTICLE 4
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State
to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State.(#29) And the Congress
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be
proved, and the effect thereof.
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 2. 1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to
all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States (#30)
(#29 Recently certain States have allowed homosexual couples the right of marriage, defying
the Scriptural definition of marriage, which is between one man and one woman. Genesis 1:27
and 28. Genesis 2:21 to 25. As this portion of the Constitution presently stands,each State
may make its own laws concerning marriage which affect its citizens, but each State must
respect the marriage union as defined in other States, when those who were joined under
different union laws take up residence within their State. It was hoped, by Gay Marriage
advocates that this would force all States to adopt Gay Marriage laws. It has not. In fact
the reverse has been true. States who never before bothered to define marriage as between one
man and one woman, because it was never an issue, are now doing so. However this is not over
yet. The Gay Rights Advocates may yet bring a case before the Supreme Court and argue
successfully that all Gays are entitled to marriage in ALL states based upon the above clause
of the Constitution! In which case all State definitions of Marriage between man and woman would
be thrown out the window. But you ask, why should one state definition be applied in all states
above another state definition which is contrary? That is the question! Congress may yet have
to either restrict the Supreme Courts jurisdiction on Marriage definitions and reserve that to
the States alone or be forced to pass a United States Constitutional Amendment defining marriage
between one man and one woman which would then place it at risk for being declared
unconstitutional by the Supreme Court by some twisted logic. It would be better to let the
States handle this and restrict the Supreme Court jurisdiction on Marriage definitions.)
(#30) See the 14th Amendment Section 1. (Equal protection of the laws clause.)
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 2. 2. A person charged in any State with treason,
felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on
demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, to be delivered up to be
removed to the State having the jurisdiction of the crime.(#31)
(#31 This is known by jurists as "Extraditon to the State in which the crime occured.")
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 2. 3. No person held to service or labor in one State
under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, inconsequence of any law or regulation
therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the
party to whom such service or labor may be due.(#32)
(#32) See the 13th Amendment. (Neither slavery or involuntary servitude shall exist.)
This references the slavery and indenture laws which by the selling into slavery of
persons forced labor from those who could not vote and were counted as of lesser importance in
census laws. This was an affront to those who believed literally that "All men are created equal
and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these rights were
life, liberty, and property." Slaves had no rights to life, liberty or property. If you were a
slave you could be killed, worked or beaten to death or sold to another slave holder and you
certainly owned nothing. The Dred Scott decision by the Supreme Court was based upon this
clause. We had to fight a civil war to establish that the Declaration of Independence meant
what it said ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL! Women are also included since "men" is now considered
a generic term. We gave black men the vote before we gave women the vote, but that was back when
"men" meant men.
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 3. 1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into
this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other
State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States,
without the consent of the legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 3. 2. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to
the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any
claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
ARTICLE 4.SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State
in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion;
and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be
convened) against domestic violence.
ARTICLE 5
ARTICLE 5. The Congress, whenever two thirds(#33) of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the
legislatures of two thirds(#33) of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing
amendments, which in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this
Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by
conventions in three fourths(#33) thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be
proposed by the Congress; Provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the year one
thousand eight hundred and eight(#34) shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the
ninth section of the first article; and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived
of its equal suffrage in the Senate.
(#33 Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed and passed by two thirds of both the House
and Senate of Congress. Or they can be proposed by two thirds of the legislatures of the States
by calling for a Constitutional Convention. Any amendments would become valid only if ratified
by three fourths of the States, but whether in Constitutional Convention or by ratification of
the States without Constitutional Convention, it is clear that which ever is used it requires
three fourths of the States to approve an amendment.
(#34 Article 5 contains a no action clause before 1808.) See also Article 1. SECTION 9. 1. and 4.
This prohibition was for Congress not to interfere in the Slave Trade or impose a head tax unless
done in the proportions of the census wherein slaves were not counted as full persons. For that
number (three fifths of the slaves) see Article 1. SECTION 3. If a head tax were to be imposed
a Free person counted as one, Indians were not counted unless they paid taxes, and three fifths
of the "other persons" (slaves) would have been counted. It meant that from the time the
Constitution was ratified (June, 1788 until 1808) until 20 years later, the subject of slavery
could not be brought up nor changed in the Constitution. This was a concession to the Southern
States to get them to ratify the Constitution forming our Federal system of a Republic.
ARTICLE 6
ARTICLE 6. 1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this
Constitution, as under the Confederation. (#35)
(#35 The Continental Congress had accumulated a war debt from the American Revolution
and there were people who were cynical about the good faith of the new Republic to pay off the
war debts. The people had a saying "Not worth a Continental" meaning that Continental Script,
which was an I.O.U. used to pay for supplies for the Continental Army. The new American Republic
had an obligation to pay off that debt or forever loose it's credit standing with the people and
other countries. Under Andrew Jackson, that debt was finally paid off.)
(See the 14th Amendment, Section 4.)
ARTICLE 6. 2. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which
shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made or which shall be made, under the
authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land;(#36) and the Judges in
every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the
contrary notwithstanding.
(#36 Notice that the Supreme Law of the Land is not vested with the Supreme Court, but with the
United States Constitution along with all treaties (properly made) under the authority of the
United States (not the United Nations). The U.S. Constitution is being undermined by the One
World Advocates (New World Order - Builderbergers and all their institutions around the world
which include such groups as the Trilateral Commission, Council on Foreign Relations, World Bank
under the United Nations. This is not by any means a complete list, but a starter. You will
need to dig further. "Vigilance is ever the price of liberty." Wake up people. Your rights
are going down the drain.)
ARTICLE 6. 3. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and
the members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial officers, both
of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support
this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required (#37) as a qualification to any
office of public trust under the United States.
(#37 When Judge Roy Moore was removed as a District Judge in Alabama, the reason he was removed
was because he was given a religious test by those judges who removed him. This was obviously an
unconstitutional act. But for some reason Roy Moore has not bothered, so it seems, to pursue
this violation in court of his constitutional right to hold office without a religious
test. How about it judge?)
ARTICLE 7
ARTICLE 7. The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.
Articles in addition to, and amendments 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 are as follows:
AMENDMENTS
Article 1 through Article 7 of the United States Constitution was adopted
September 17, 1787 -
ARTICLE 1.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 1. Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;(#38) 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 redresss of grievances.
(#38 If Congress cannot make any law regarding any religious denomination (establishment of
religion) or if it cannot prohibit any exercise of it and cannot silence freedom of speech or
of the press, then why are churches being threatened under IRS 501 C regulations to remain
morally neutral when it comes to issues such as abortion (murder of innocent children) or gay
marriage (unnatural act under the laws of God concerning reproduction and family life). Churches
have given the field to Satan. Only individual Christians are carrying on the moral battle.
If Congress cannot silence freedom of the speech and freedom of the press then why do we see hate
laws being passed which are unconstitutional and impose fines and imprisonment for free speech
and moral instruction to sinners by Christians? These unconstitutional laws are being passed by
State legislatures and soon by Congress in violation of the Constitution. Currently there is a
Bill in Congress for so called "Hate Crimes" which will impose punishment more severe for speech
and thought than any harmful physical action taken against a person.
Remember the supreme
law of the land is the Constitution, not the Supreme Court. Congress may not itself, violate the
Constitution because it is a Covenant between a people and their God recognizing their God given
rights, arguments to the contrary notwithstanding. A nation speaks by its laws. When its laws
speak against the Commandments of God, it has lost the protection of its God and is ripe for
judgement.
We are living in a time when the "old signposts" of the Constitution are being destroyed and our
rights along with it. Is it a prophetic sign perhaps
that as we are losing our Constitutional rights the very words are fading from the original
documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution archived in Washinton D.C.?
Who shall repair the breach in the wall of righteousness? (Isaiah 58:12) We are in danger of
destruction!)
ARTICLE 2.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 2. A well regulated militia, being necessary to the
security of a free State, the right of the people (#39) to keep and bear arms, shall not be
infringed.
(#39 Notice that this right has been given to the people not the State. The militia are the
people and they have a right of self regulation for their own security. Presently Bills are in
Congress giving the Attorney General the right to consficate your personal firearms, leaving
you wide open to the criminal element. Remember Katrina? The National Guard was under the
control of the City of New Orleans at that time and they were consficating firearms from
peaceful citizens while the police had to deal with the bad guys. (The biggest criminals are
in Washington.) When firearms are outlawed only outlaws will have them. National security
becomes national insecurity under this arrangement.)
Currently in Congress, U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg (Dem.- New Jersey) has introduced S. 1237,
giving the Attorney General the power to declare anyone to be a "prohibited person". Prohibited
from owning a firearm. Making personal ownership of any firearm a federal felony. Gun ownership
will no longer be guaranteed if Congress passes this unconstitutional legislation. The worst
part is that this legislation will not only take away your personal protection firearms, it
removes them by a top secret declaration that makes it impossible for anyone to defend themselves
in court against such action. S.1237 states:
ARTICLE 3.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 3. 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.
ARTICLE 4.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 4. The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated,(#40) 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.
(#40 The so called "Patriot Act" allows indiscriminate searches, seizures and arrest without any
warrants and admits of no probable cause citing "National Security" for reason of complete
government silence. You can be branded a "terrorist" by Homeland Security goons and whisked
off without any rights of habeus corpus and no one will ever know where you were taken or what
happened to you. And it was your representatives in Congress who passed this and did it to
you.)
ARTICLE 5.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 5. No person shall be held to answer for a capital,
or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury,(#41) 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 offense 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.(#42)
162
(#41 This provides for a grand jury in criminal cases to check the facts to see if there is
probable cause that a crime may have been committed. It provides for martial law or "court
martial" of military personell for crime including any citizen who may be drafted. It provides
the "5th Amendment right" of a person to be silent and not testify. It provides that once a
criminal case is settled by jury (due process right of trial by jury) in favor of the defendant
that he may not be tried again on the same charge (double jeopardy).
(#42)Neither shall his private property be taken unless for public use. And he must be justly
compensated (at current market value).
Recently we have witnessed the unconstitutional ruling of the Supreme Court that ruled that now
private property may be taken for private use. (God calls it stealing). The excuse being that
it is for the greater good of the government (not the people) because a higher tax may be
extracted from it. It also is for the greater profit of the corporation or company in collusion
with government that grabs the property from the individual.
Corporations are not given individual rights by God. They are legal constructs and can be
created for business purposes, sold, and dissolved by contract. Individuals cannot be made
slaves, sold and done away with because they are created in the image of God. Governments are
created for the protection of the people and their rights, not for a legal construct. Contracts
are honored for the protection of the individuals involved, not for the corporation
itself.)
July 17, 2007 - Recently, U.S. Representatives F. James Sensenbrenner (Rep. - Wisconsin)
and Maxine Waters (Dem. - California) have introduced the "Private Property Rights Protection
Act of 2007" to restore property rights that the Supreme Court took away two years ago in Kelo
vs. City of New London. The "Kelo" decision by the Supreme Court held that government taking of
private property for "economic development" can be a "public use" under the Fifth Amendment's
taking clause. This senate bill prevents the federal government from exercising power of
eminent domain by using the "economic development" argument. It also discourages State and
Local governments from abusing eminent domain powers by denying them federal development funds
for a period of two years. Time for a letter of appreciation to these representatives. There is
no individual freedom without the power of the individual to free use of property according to
Sensenbrenner.
ARTICLE 6.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 6. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,(#43) 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 defense.
(#43 Trials must be speedy. They cannot just put you in a dungeon and throw away the key. You
are entitled to a jury of your peers (people from the same background). You cannot be whisked
away to a foreign country and a kangaroo court. You have the right to be informed of the
charges against you and you can confront your accusers. You even have the right to be read your
rights (Miranda clause). You have the right to subpoena witnesses in your favor and you have
the right to legal counsel. If you cannot afford legal counsel, the court must provide legal
counsel for you. All these rights are jeopardized by the so called "Patriot Act". Wake up
people!.)
ARTICLE 7.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 7. 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 common law.(#44)
(#44 A jury can examine both the facts of the case and the law governing the case and can rule
against an unjust law and free the victim of an unjust law and the case cannot ever again be
reexamined (double jeopardy) in any other court in the United States. The common law of the
English allowed a jury to examine the facts and the law itself. While the law itself could not
be changed, the effects of an unjust law could be remedied in the individual case. Judges today
do not want people to know the power of the people's jury. They accuse people on the jury of
tampering with the law when they do not follow the law in their decisions, but they themselves
freely tamper with jury rights by not informing the jury of their rights as jurists to judge
the law itself in the particular case in question. Do we want justice or bad law to rule?
"What does God require of thee, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God."
- Micah 6:8 and Deuteronomy 10:12)
ARTICLE 8.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive (#45) fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
(#45 What constitutes "excessive" is an invitation for lawyers to argue incessantly, but
the early Founding Fathers did not consider death for a capital crime to be cruel or unusual.
After all the person who murdered his victim did not consider his deed to be cruel or unusual
or he would not have done it, so why should he complain when it is his turn?
ARTICLE 9.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 9. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.(#46)
(#46 Such rights as the right to privacy, an education, freedom of thought and action as
long as such does not harm others, freedom from hunger, the right to clean water and a clean
environment are all rights that belong to the people, not the government. If people recognize
these rights for themselves then they and they alone must seek ways to expand these rights by
their own efforts. Your right to swing your arms ends where my nose begins. To work for the
rights of others is as necessary to true freedom and justice as it is to defend your own rights.
Government will not defend those rights for you. Government only seeks to expand its power over
you. If you want to free yourself and your fellow citizens, start oppressing Government.)
ARTICLE 10.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 10. The powers not delegated to the United States
by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectivly,
or to the people.(#47)
(#47 True Federalism is limited government. Unlimited government is not Federalism, it
is tyranny. We have to quit trying to "find money" for every supposed ill and evil. Money is
not "found" unless it is first taken away from the people in taxes. The power to tax is the
power to control. The more taxes the more government has to control you. Our Federal Republic
was created to protect the people and defend their God given rights and liberties, nothing more.
All else is the domain of a free people trusting in their God. The Federal government was
created to do collectively what we could not do individually. Beyond a fair and level ground
on which to start our American dream, we cannot expect more. No one owes you a living and you
should not be sucking the fruits of other peoples labor (in taxes) to expand your parasitic
behavior. "If any (man) would not work, neither should he eat." - 2 Thessalonians 3:10)
The aforementioned constitute the original Constitution of the United States with the "Bill
of Rights".
ARTICLE 11.
(Passed by Congress March 5, 1794. Ratified January 8, 1798.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 11. 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 of subjects of any foreign
State.(#48)
(#48 Federal judges are not involved in these cases.)
ARTICLE 12.
(Passed by Congress December 12, 1803. Ratified September 25, 1804.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 12. The electors shall meet in their respective
States, and vote by ballot
for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same
State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and
in distinct ballots, the person voted for as Vice President, and they shall make distinct lists
of all persons voted for as President and of all persons voted for as Vice President, and of the
number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the
seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; -- The
President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open
all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; -- The person having the greatest
number
of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number
of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the
highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of
Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each State having one
vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of the
States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of
Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice President shall act as
President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President.
The Person having the greatest number of votes as Vice President shall be the Vice President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and if no person have a
majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose a 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.(#49)
(#49 See also Article 2. Section 1. 2. - In Amendments-Article 12. (above) The electors are
disbersed in their respective states, but now they vote for specific candidates running for
President and Vice President pushed by political parties (instead of names the electors
themselves come up with). Lists are made of all the people voted for as President and Vice
President by the electors. After the lists are made they are signed, sealed and delivered to
the President of the Senate where all the lists are opened in front of all the political
partisans of each party where they proceed to count the votes. The person with the greatest
number of electorial votes gets to be President. In case of a tie vote then the three highest
on the list are voted on by the House of Representatives, but each State gets only one vote.
So this means in those States the elected Representatives to the House of those States, must
decide among themselves, who they are going to vote for collectively in order to make up their
one vote. If there is no clear majority vote in the House of Representatives (another tie) then
the election goes to the Senate where it is decided from the two highest vote getters on the
list. Except that the one the Senate elects of those two is to be Vice President. No President
being decided upon.
The Founding Fathers stated in Article 2. Section 1. 2. "but no senator or representative, or
person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an
elector." It is clear that the Founding Fathers wanted to keep those already elected to office
out of the election process as much as possible, but when the electors could not decide then
the States were to decide through the Senate. You could not be an elector and hold public
office at the same time. The temptation to tamper with the vote was then avoided. Little did
they know about modern day electronic vote tampering, but they had the right idea.)
ARTICLE 13.
(Passed by Congress February 1, 1865. Ratified December 18, 1865.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 13. SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary
servitude,(#50) except as punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
(#50 Slavery is abolished by Amendment 13. See Article 4. Section 2. 3. No one may be held to
service or labor, previously they were bound.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 13. SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE 14.
(Passed by Congress June 16, 1866. Ratified July 23, 1868.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 14. 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.(#51)
(#51 See Article 4. Section 2. 1. (All priviledges and immunities clause.)
(See Article 1. Section 2. 3. A change in designation of "other persons" from slave status to
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States" are citizens entitled to life, liberty,
property, due process and equal protection of the law. The 13th Amendment wrote into law what
President Lincoln stated about slavery in his "Emancipation Proclamation." The 14th Amendment
made all former slaves into citizens.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 14. 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 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 14. 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.(#52)
(#52 Congress is here able by 2/3rds vote to remove the disability of rebellion,
insurrection, and previous act of aid or comfort to the enemies of the Constitution of the
United States. (Many of today's Congressmen will be busy removing themselves of their
"disabilities" should it be found that they have become enemies of the Constitution.) The
purpose of this act right after the Civil War was to allow representatives from the Southern
States who had previously been enemies to return to Congress, become electors, become members
of State legislatures and engage in the business of running a nation they had previously tried
to secede from.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 14. 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 supressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But
neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligtion 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.(#53)
(#53 Pensions for Northern Civil War Vets and debt for the Northern forces suppliers will
be paid. But nothing for the South.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 14. SECTION 5. The Congress shall have power to
enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
ARTICLE 15.
(Passed by Congress February 27, 1869. Ratified March 30, 1870.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 15. 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 15. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE 16.
(Passed by Congress July 12, 1909. Ratified February 25, 1913.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 16. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect
taxes on incomes,(#54) from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States,
and without regard to any census or enumeration.
(#54 See Article 1. Section 2. 3. A change in the method of taxation from a head tax to an income
tax.
ARTICLE 17.
(Passed by Congress May 16, 1912. Ratified May 31, 1913.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 17. The Senate of the United States shall be composed
of two senators from each state, elected by the people thereof,(#55) 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 legislature.
(#55 See Article 1. Section 3. 1. Change in the method of election of Senators. Previously they
were chosen by the legislature of each State. Now they are chosen by the people of each State.)
When the Senators were elected by the legislature of each State, they had representation in
Congress to balance States rights against the rights of the people. The people already had
representation in the House of Representatives. Now the people control both houses of Congress.
Or do they? Government today is more vulnerable to demagogery. The politician that promises the
most gets elected. The politician with the most special interest money gets elected because he
has the most media access to the people to promise more. The people who elect our Senators and
Representatives in Congress today, for the most part, do not follow events in Washington, unless
they are wronged by bad legislation.
Today no one speaks for the individual States in Congress. Formerly they had a powerful voice in
Congress when the U.S. Senate was elected by the State legislatures. Instead we have become a
divided nation. Each group of people with their own agenda, battling each other and Congress
for special priviledge and largesse. The biggest group today is big business. As a result we
have the finest politicians that money can buy. The Founding Fathers had originally thought of
the Senate and the House as being similar to the House of Lords and the House of Commons in
England. While we had no Lords, we did have Soverign States. They were to be represented by
the Senate and the people were to be represented by the House of Representatives. The Founding
Fathers never trusted complete democracy. People could become a mob rule. Instead they wanted
balanced representation between the people and the Soverign States. Now we have politicians
playing one group of people against another group in order to get re-elected. Divide and
conquer! You tell me, is the present arrangement really better than the old one?
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.
ARTICLE 18.
(Passed by Congress December 17, 1917. Ratified January 29, 1919.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 18. 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.(#56)
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
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
Constituion, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by Congress.
(#56 See Article 21 for Repeal of Prohibition.)
ARTICLE 19.
(Passed by Congress June 5, 1919. Ratified August 26, 1920.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 19. 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.
ARTICLE 20.
(Passed by Congress March 3, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice
President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senaators and
Representatives at noon on the 3rd 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least
once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. 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-elect
shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who
is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice
President shall have qualified.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on
the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 20. Section 6. This article shall be inoperative
unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constituion by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
ARTICLE 21.
(Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 21. Section 1. The Eighteenth Article of amendment to
the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.(#57)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 21. Section 2. The transportation of 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 21. 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 by conventions in the several States, as provided
in the Constituion, within seven years from the date of the submission thereof to the States by
the Congress.
(#57 Prohibition is repealed by Article 21. See Article 18 for Prohibition.)
ARTICLE 22.
(Passed by Congress March 12, 1947. Ratified February 26, 1951.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 22. No Person shall be elected to the office of the
President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as
President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President
shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.
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. ARTICLE 23. 249
(Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 23. SECTION 1. The District constituting the seat of
Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it
were a State, but in no event more than the lease 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
the 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 23. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislaton.
ARTICLE 24.
(Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 24. 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 any poll tax
or other tax.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 24. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
ARTICLE 25.
(Passed by Congress July 6, 1966. Ratified February 10, 1967.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 25. SECTION 1. In case of the removal of the President
from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 25. 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 25. 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 25. SECTION 4. Whenever the Vice President and a
majority of eithe 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.
ARTICLE 26.
(Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 26. 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.
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 25. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to
enforce this article by appropriate legislation. ARTICLE 27. 268
(Proposed by Congress September 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.)
AMENDMENTS-ARTICLE 27. No law, varying the compensation for the services
of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect until an election of representatives
shall have intervened. |