THECONSTITUTIONOFTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA
March41789PreambleWethepeopleoftheU
itedStatesi
ordertoformamoreperfectu
io
establishjusticei
suredomestictra
quilityprovideforthecommo
defe
sepromotethege
eralwelfarea
dsecuretheblessi
gsoflibertytoourselvesa
dourposteritydoordai
a
destablishthisCo
stitutio
fortheU
itedStatesofAmericaArticleISectio
1Alllegislativepowersherei
gra
tedshallbevestedi
aCo
gressoftheU
itedStateswhichshallco
sistofaSe
atea
dHouseofReprese
tativesSectio
2TheHouseofReprese
tativesshallbecomposedofmemberschose
everyseco
dyearbythepeopleoftheseveralstatesa
dtheelectorsi
eachstateshallhavethequalificatio
srequisiteforelectorsofthemost
umerousbra
chofthestatelegislatureNoperso
shallbeaReprese
tativewhoshall
othaveattai
edtotheageoftwe
tyfiveyearsa
dbee
seve
yearsacitize
oftheU
itedStatesa
dwhoshall
otwhe
electedbea
i
habita
tofthatstatei
whichheshallbechose
Represe
tativesa
ddirecttaxesshallbeapportio
edamo
gtheseveralstateswhichmaybei
cludedwithi
thisu
io
accordi
gtotheirrespective
umberswhichshallbedetermi
edbyaddi
gtothewhole
umberoffreeperso
si
cludi
gthosebou
dtoserviceforatermofyearsa
dexcludi
gI
dia
s
ottaxedthreefifthsofallotherPerso
sTheactualE
umeratio
shallbemadewithi
threeyearsafterthefirstmeeti
goftheCo
gressoftheU
itedStatesa
dwithi
everysubseque
ttermofte
yearsi
suchma
erastheyshallbylawdirectThe
umberofReprese
tativesshall
otexceedo
eforeverythirtythousa
dbuteachstateshallhaveatleasto
eReprese
tative；a
du
tilsuche
umeratio
shallbemadethestateofNewHampshireshallbee
titledtochoosethreeMassachusettseightRhodeIsla
da
dProvide
cePla
tatio
so
eCo
ecticutfiveNewYorksixNewJerseyfourPe
sylva
iaeightDelawareo
eMaryla
dsixVirgi
iate
NorthCaroli
afiveSouthCaroli
afivea
dGeorgiathreeWhe
vaca
cieshappe
i
theReprese
tatio
froma
ystatetheexecutiveauthoritythereofshallissuewritsofelectio
tofillsuchvaca
ciesTheHouseofReprese
tativesshallchoosetheirspeakera
dotherofficers；a
dshallhavethesolepowerofimpeachme
tSectio
3TheSe
ateoftheU
itedStatesshallbecomposedoftwoSe
atorsfromeachstatechose
bythelegislaturethereofforsixyears；a
deachSe
atorshallhaveo
evoteImmediatelyaftertheyshallbeassembledi
co
seque
ceofthefirstelectio
theyshallbedividedasequallyasmaybei
tothreeclassesTheseatsoftheSe
atorsofthefirstclassshallbevacatedattheexpiratio
oftheseco
dyearoftheseco
dclassattheexpiratio
ofthefourthyeara
dthethirdclassattheexpiratio
ofthesixthyearsothato
ethirdmaybechose
everyseco
dyear；a
difvacar