There is only one crime explicitly defined in the United States Constitution: Treason. Under Article III, Section 3, a person commits treason when he or she wages war against the United States or gives “aid or comfort” to its enemies.
Article III, Section 3:
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article III, Section 3 explains that a person can only be convicted of treason if they confess to the crime or two witnesses testify that they observed the act. If a person is found guilty of treason, Congress has the power to determine the punishment.
Perhaps the most well-known person associated with treason in the United States is Benedict Arnold, an American military officer who abandoned the Patriot cause during the Revolutionary War. To make matters worse, Arnold joined the British, and while his actions would likely be considered treason under Article III, Section 3, the turncoat was never captured or tried for the crime.
Vice President Aaron Burr, on the other hand, was taken to court for allegedly committing treason in 1807. He was accused of conspiring to separate some states from the Union as part of an effort to seize territory that belonged to Spain and Mexico.
Burr was acquitted after Supreme Court Justice John Marshall insisted on following the precise definition of treason in Article III, Section 3 – which Burr’s alleged actions did not meet.
