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conventions in three-fourths 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 shall in any manner affect the first and fourth
clauses in the ninth section of the fifth article; and that no State,
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the
Senate.

Article VI.

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.

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; and the judges of every State shall be bound thereby,
anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary
notwithstanding.

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 the several States, shall be bound by oath
or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under
the United States.

Article VII.

1. The ratification of the convention of nine States shall be sufficient
for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so
ratifying the same. Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the
States present, the seventeenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, and of the Independence of
the United States of America the twelfth. In witness whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names.

GEORGE WASHINGTON,
President, and Deputy from Virginia.

AMENDMENTS.

Article I.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 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 redress of grievance.

Article II.

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free
state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be
infringed.

Article III.

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 IV.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be
violated; 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.

Article V.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, 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.

Article VI.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a
speedy and public trial, 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.

Article VII.

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 the common law.

Article VIII.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor
cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.

Article IX.

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not

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