Definition of "insurrection" in English

noun

1. (uncountable) The action of part or all of a national population violently rising up against the government or other authority; (countable) an instance of this; a revolt, an uprising; specifically, one that is at an initial stage or limited in nature.

   • No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability. (1866, Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Section 3)