Federal Desk BookConstitution Annotated

The Constitution of the United States
Analysis and Interpretation

The full text of the Constitution, clause by clause, with the Congressional Research Service’s explanation of its history and of how the Supreme Court has interpreted it.

Begin with the Preamble →   Read the Introduction

About this edition

This site reproduces the 2022 edition of The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation, usually called the Constitution Annotated (Senate Document 117-12). Congress has had it prepared since 1913, and the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress writes it. It covers Supreme Court cases decided through June 30, 2022. It contains 1267 essays and 18926 footnotes.

Each page shows the constitutional text first, followed by the essays on that provision. Use the bar at the top to move between Articles, Sections, Clauses and Amendments, or the Previous/Next links on every page.

Contents

Every page in this collection:

Introduction

The Preamble

Article I — Legislative Branch

Article II — Executive Branch

Article III — Judicial Branch

Article IV — Relationships Between the States

Article V — Amending the Constitution

Article VI — Supreme Law

Article VII — Ratification

First Amendment — Fundamental Freedoms

Second Amendment — Right to Bear Arms

Third Amendment — Quartering Soldiers

Fourth Amendment — Searches and Seizures

Fifth Amendment — Rights of Persons

Sixth Amendment — Rights in Criminal Prosecutions

Seventh Amendment — Civil Trial Rights

Eighth Amendment — Cruel and Unusual Punishment

Ninth Amendment — Unenumerated Rights

Tenth Amendment — Rights Reserved to the States and the People

Eleventh Amendment — Suits Against States

Twelfth Amendment — Election of President

Thirteenth Amendment — Abolition of Slavery

Fourteenth Amendment — Equal Protection and Other Rights

Fifteenth Amendment — Right of Citizens to Vote

Sixteenth Amendment — Income Tax

Seventeenth Amendment — Popular Election of Senators

Eighteenth Amendment — Prohibition of Liquor

Nineteenth Amendment — Women’s Suffrage

Twentieth Amendment — Presidential Term and Succession

Twenty-First Amendment — Repeal of Prohibition

Twenty-Second Amendment — Presidential Term Limits

Twenty-Third Amendment — District of Columbia Electors

Twenty-Fourth Amendment — Abolition of Poll Tax

Twenty-Fifth Amendment — Presidential Vacancy

Twenty-Sixth Amendment — Reduction of Voting Age

Twenty-Seventh Amendment — Congressional Compensation