The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article. (ARTICLE XV.) SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. (ARTICLE XVI.) The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States and without regard to any census or enumeration. (ARTICLE XVII.) SECTION 1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The Electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. SECTION 2. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the Legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. SECTION 3. This amendment shall not be construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution. RATIFICATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION. The Constitution was adopted by a Convention of the States September 17, 1787, and was subsequently ratified by the several States, in the following order, viz.: Delaware, December 7, 1787. Pennsylvania, December 12, 1787. New Jersey, December 18, 1787. Georgia, January 2, 1788. Connecticut, January 9, 1788. Massachusetts, February 6, 1788. Maryland, April 28, 1788. South Carolina, May 23, 1788. New Hampshire, June 21, 1788. Virginia, June 26, 1788. New York, July 26, 1788. North Carolina, November 21, 1789. Rhode Island, May 29, 1790. The State of Vermont, by convention, ratified the Constitution on the 10th of January, 1791, and was, by an act of Congress of the 18th of February, 1791, “received and admitted into this Union as a new and entire member of the United States of America.” RATIFICATIONS OF THE AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. The first ten articles of amendment (with two others which were not ratified by the requisite number of States) were submitted to the several State Legislatures by a resolution of Congress which passed on the 25th of September, 1789, at the first session of the First Congress, and were ratified by the Legislatures of the following States: