The whole document: the Preamble, all seven articles of the original Constitution, and all 27 amendments: verbatim text alongside plain language. The rights most connected to current federal activity are highlighted and tagged to live bills and actions. Educational and non-ideological; this describes the document, it does not give legal advice.
The Preamble states who is creating the Constitution and why.
Article I creates Congress: a House of Representatives apportioned by population and a Senate with two seats per state, and gives it the federal government's lawmaking power.
Article II vests the executive power in a single President, elected to a four-year term through the Electoral College.
Article III creates the Supreme Court and lets Congress build the lower federal courts.
Article IV governs how the states relate to each other and to the Union: each state must respect the others' laws, court judgments, and citizens; new states join on Congress's terms; and the federal government guarantees every state a republican form of government and protection against invasion.
Article V is the Constitution's instruction manual for changing itself.
Article VI makes the Constitution, federal laws made under it, and treaties "the supreme Law of the Land," binding on every judge in every state.
Article VII set the terms for bringing the Constitution to life: approval by conventions in nine of the thirteen states.
The First Amendment limits the government's power over five related freedoms: religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petitioning the government.
The Second Amendment concerns the right to keep and bear arms.
The Third Amendment bars the government from forcing people to house soldiers in their homes during peacetime, and only by law during war.
The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government and sets conditions for warrants.
The Fifth Amendment bundles several protections in criminal and property matters: grand-jury indictment for serious federal crimes, protection against being tried twice for the same offense, the right not to be forced to testify against oneself, a guarantee of due process, and a requirement that government pay fair value when it takes private property..
The Sixth Amendment lists the rights a person has when accused of a crime: a speedy and public trial, an impartial jury, notice of the charges, the ability to confront witnesses and call their own, and the assistance of a lawyer.
The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to a jury in many civil (non-criminal) federal cases and limits how a judge may overturn a jury's findings of fact..
The Eighth Amendment bars excessive bail and fines and “cruel and unusual” punishments.
The Ninth Amendment says that listing some rights in the Constitution does not mean those are the only rights people have.
The Tenth Amendment states that powers the Constitution does not give to the federal government, and does not deny to the states, remain with the states or the people.
The Eleventh Amendment limits federal courts from hearing certain lawsuits brought against a state by residents of another state or country, an early statement of state sovereign immunity..
The Twelfth Amendment sets out how electors cast separate votes for President and Vice President, and what happens if no candidate wins a majority.
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States, except as punishment for a crime, and gave Congress the power to enforce it..
The Fourteenth Amendment is among the most consequential.
The Fifteenth Amendment bars denying the right to vote on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude, and lets Congress enforce it..
The Sixteenth Amendment allows Congress to levy a federal income tax without apportioning it among the states by population..
The Seventeenth Amendment provides for U.S.
The Eighteenth Amendment established nationwide Prohibition, banning the manufacture, sale, and transport of intoxicating liquors.
The Nineteenth Amendment bars denying the right to vote on account of sex, securing women's suffrage nationwide..
The Twentieth Amendment sets when presidential and congressional terms begin and end, and addresses what happens if a President-elect dies or fails to qualify.
The Twenty-first Amendment repealed Prohibition (the Eighteenth Amendment) while letting states regulate alcohol within their borders..
The Twenty-second Amendment limits a President to two elected terms (and addresses partial terms served), formalizing a tradition broken only once..
The Twenty-third Amendment grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College, as if it were a state, capped at the count of the least populous state..
The Twenty-fourth Amendment bars conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other tax..
The Twenty-fifth Amendment sets out presidential succession and how to handle a President's death, resignation, removal, or inability to serve, including how a vacancy in the vice presidency is filled..
The Twenty-sixth Amendment guarantees that citizens eighteen or older may not be denied the vote on account of age, lowering the voting age nationwide to 18..
The Twenty-seventh Amendment delays any change in congressional pay until after the next House election.
All constitutional text is verbatim and public domain, transcribed from the National Archives; every page links to the official transcription and the Constitution Annotated for verification. Highlighted amendments are the ones this app actively connects to current bills and actions.
