NOTES

 1.  Changed by Section 2 of Amendment XIV (1868).
 2.  Changed by Section 1 of Amendment XVII (1913).
 3.  Changed by Clause 2 of Amendment XVII (1913).
 4.  Changed by Section 2 of Amendment XX (1933).
 5.  A presidential 'pocket veto' occurs when a bill is not returned
     before Congress adjourns.
 6.  But see Amendment XVI (1913).
 7.  The Constitution does not require direct popular election of
     presidential electors, but all of the states mandated it by the
     mid-19th century.
 8.  Superseded by Amendment XII (1804).
 9.  This clause has been affected by Amendment XXV (1967).
 10. To "work Corruption of Blood" means to make the family of the convicted
     share his guilt.
 11. Superseded by Amendment XIII (1865).
 12. Amendment XXI was not ratified
     by state legislatures, but by state conventions summoned by
     Congress. This version of the Constitution lacks the so-called
     'preamble' to the Bill of Rights (essentially a letter of
     transmittal from Congress to the states); most scholars believe it,
     and the letters of transmittal prefacing the other 16 amendments,
     unnecessarily lengthens the text of the Constitution.
 13. Superseded by Section 3 of Amendment XX (1933).
 14. Amendments XIII, XIV, and XV, known as the Reconstruction Amendments,
     were intended to guarantee the rights of slaves emancipated during
     the Civil War.
 15. Changed by Section 1 of Amendment XXVI (1971).
 16. Prohibition, ratified during wartime, was repealed by Section 1
     of Amendment XXI (1933).
 17. This amendment was added after Franklin D. Roosevelt won
     four consecutive presidential elections. 
 
     The text of the Constitution and amendments was checked against
the text in The  Wilson Quarterly, Spring 1987  (vol. XI, No. 2), pp.
136-153, and the notes derived  from those provided there.  Part of
footnote 12 was derived from a note in the Summer  1987 issue (vol. XI,
No. 3), p. 173. 

     While there is no official version of the Constitution, this  text
reproduces that used by both the Supreme Court and the  National
Archives.