GLC 1129[LS1]
Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser (3300)
Friday August 28, 1789

The First Seventeen Proposed Amendments to the Constitution

Linda K. Steinmann

Gilder Lehrman Fellow
January 1995

Page 3: column 3, 4


Congress of the United States
In the House of Representatives
Monday the 24th August 1789

"Resolved, by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the United States of America, proposed by congress, and ratified by the legislatures of the several states, [pursuant to the 5th Article of the original Constitution]

I.After the first enumeration, required by the first article of the Constitution there shall be one representative for every thirty thousand, until the number shall amount to one hundred, after which the proportion shall be regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than one hundred representatives, not less than one representative for every forty thousand persons, until the number of representatives shall amount to two hundred, after which the proportion shall be regulated by Congress, that there shall be not less than two hundred representatives, nor less than one representative for every fifty thousand persons. [LS2]

II.No law varying the compensation to the members of congress shall take effect until an election of representatives shall have intervened.[LS3]

III.Congress shall make no law establishing religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, nor shall the rights of conscience be infringed.

IV.The freedom of speech, and of the press, and the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and consult for their common good, and apply to the government for redress of grievances, shall not be infringed.

V.A well- regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed: but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.[LS4]

VI.No soldier shall in times 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.

VII.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 and affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched; and persons or things to be seized.

VIII.No person shall be subjected, except in case of impeachment, to more than one trial or one punishment for the same offence, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be 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.

IX.In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

X.The trial of all crimes (except in cases of impeachment, and in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of wars or public danger)[LS5] shall be by an impartial jury of the vicinage, with the requisite of unanimity for conviction; the right of challenging and other accustomed requisites: and no person shall be held to answer for a capita; or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury; but if a crime be committed in a place in the possession of an enemy, or in which an insurrection may prevail, the indictment and trial may by law be authorised in some other place within the same state.[LS6]
XI. skipped in original text and inserted after XIV.
XII.In suits at common law, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.

XIII.Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. XIV. reversed with XV. in the original text XV.The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

XIV.No state shall infringe on the right of trial by jury in criminal cases, nor the rights of conscience, nor the freedom of speech, or of the press.[LS7]

XI. No appeal to the Supreme Court of he United States shall be allowed, where the value in contraversy shall not amount to one thousand dollars; nor shall any fact be triable by a jury according to the court of common law, be otherwise re- examinable, than according to the rules of common law.

XVI. The powers delegated by the Constitution to the government of the United States, shall be exercised as therein appropriated, so that the legislative shall never exercise the powers vested in the executive or judicial; nor the executive the powers vested in the legislative or judicial; nor the judicial the powers vested in the legislative or the executive.[LS8]

XVII.The powers not delegated by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively.[LS9]
Ordered, that the Clerk of this house do carry to the Senate, a fair and engrossed copy of the said proposed articles of Amendment, and desire their concurrence.[LS10]


  1. The First Seventeen Proposed Amendments to the Constitution
  2. Historical Context
  3. Teaching and Learning Strategies
  4. Course Syllabus