The Constitution
in plain English.

I get asked what the Constitution actually says more than any other question, and it’s a fair one. It’s shorter than your apartment lease. But it was written in 1787 by lawyers who argued for sport, so it can feel dense. Here is the whole skeleton in plain English: the Preamble, the seven articles, all ten Bill of Rights amendments, and six later amendments that shaped the country. One line each.

The Preamble

The mission statement: unite the country, establish justice, keep peace at home, provide for defense, promote the general welfare, and secure liberty for ourselves and our posterity.

The Articles

• Article I creates Congress, the House and Senate, and gives it the power to make laws, raise taxes, and spend money.
• Article II creates the president, who enforces the laws, commands the military, and makes treaties with the Senate’s consent.
• Article III creates the Supreme Court and the federal courts, which decide cases under federal law.
• Article IV the states must respect each other’s laws and court rulings, and Congress admits new states.
• Article V is the amendment process: propose with two-thirds of Congress, ratify with three-fourths of the states.
• Article VI makes the Constitution the supreme law of the land, requires an oath from officials, and bans religious tests for office.
• Article VII made it take effect once nine of the thirteen original states ratified it.

The Bill of Rights

• 1st Congress can’t establish a religion, prohibit its free exercise, or abridge speech, the press, assembly, or petition.
• 2nd Word for word: “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.” The debate is about how the first clause relates to the second.
• 3rd The government can’t quarter soldiers in your house in peacetime.
• 4th No unreasonable searches or seizures; warrants need probable cause and a specific description.
• 5th Serious federal charges need a grand jury; no double jeopardy, no forced self-incrimination, no losing life, liberty, or property without due process; taken property requires just compensation.
• 6th If criminally charged: a speedy public trial, an impartial jury, notice of the charges, the ability to confront and call witnesses, and a lawyer.
• 7th Federal civil suits over twenty dollars carry a right to a jury trial.
• 8th No excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment.
• 9th This list of rights isn’t exhaustive; the people keep others.
• 10th Powers not given to the federal government, or denied to the states, stay with the states or the people.

Six Amendments That Shaped the Country

• 13th Slavery and involuntary servitude are abolished, except as punishment for a crime.
• 14th Anyone born or naturalized here is a citizen, and states can’t deny due process or equal protection of the laws.
• 15th The right to vote can’t be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
• 19th The right to vote can’t be denied because of sex.
• 24th No poll taxes in federal elections.
• 26th Citizens 18 and older can vote.

That’s the skeleton. The full text, plus the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and an AI companion that cites the text as it explains, lives in The Constitution App on the App Store.