The Articles of the Constitution :)

Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress its powers and limits. Congress is the legislative branch of the government, meaning they are the ones to make laws for the United States of America. The article also creates the two sections of Congress, which is called a bicameral legislature. The first of the two is the Senate, which is made up of two senators from each state. The second is the House of Representatives, which has representatives from each state based on the population.

Section 1 of Article 1

Section 1 of Article 1 is known as the vesting clause. This clause gives Congress of the government’s power to make laws. There are similar vesting clauses in article two and article three, which give powers to the other branches of the government. This means no other branch is allowed to exercise the same power. 

Section 2 of Article 1

Section 2 of Article 1 gives information about the United States House of Representatives. This part of Article 1 says that there will be elections for members of the House of Representatives every second year.  These representatives are voted in by the people, meaning the citizens of each state will choose the representatives. Any representative who decides to run for a seat on the House of Representatives bust be at 25 years old, and must have been an American citizen for at least 7 years. He or she must also live in the state that he or she wishes to be a representative for.

Section 3 of Article 1

Section 3 of Article 1 describes explains how the Senate should be. This section says that there will be two Senators for each state, and they will have 6 year terms. In order to be a Senator, a person has to be at least 30 years old, and must have been an American citizen for at least 9 years. He or she must also live in the state that he or she wishes to be a representative for

Section 4 of Article 1

Section 4 of Article 1 explains that the States have the power to determine where, when, and how elections will be held for Senators and Representatives. The section also states that Congress must meet at least once each year, and this meeting must be on the first Monday in December.

Section 5 of Article 1

Section 5 of Article 1 talks about how procedure should be for each House of Congress. This includes the qualifications of members, the rules they must follow, how to keep records for what happens, and how a house can adjourn.

Section 6 of Article 1

Section 6 of Article 1 looks at the privileges, restrictions, and compensation of anyone who is a Senator or a Representative. These civil officers get paid by the Treasury of the United States. They cannot be arrested, unless it is for a felony, treason, or a breach of peace. They also cannot take an office in the Executive government while they are still in Congress.

Section 7 of Article 1

Section 7 of Article explains how Congress can make acts through bills. A bill can start in either the House of Representatives or in the Senate. Once the bill is passed in both houses, it can become a law. After it is passed, it will go to the president, who can let it pass or choose to veto the bill.

Section 8 of Article 1

Section 8 of Article 1 gives the Enumerated Powers of congress. The enumerated powers are a list of items that Confess is specifically allowed to do. Examples of these powers include making money or setting up taxes.

Section 9 of Article 1

Section 9 of Article 1 is a list of limits on the powers of Congress. For example, Congress cannot create any titles for royalty, like a King.

Section 10 of Article

Section 10 of Article 1 is the last section of Article 1. Section 10 limits the powers of the states. For example, the first part of section 10 says that states do not have certain powers that the federal government has. For example, they cannot create money.

Article 2 of the United States Constitution is the section that makes the executive branch of the government. The Executive branch of the government is the branch that has the responsibility and authority for the administration throughout the day of the state. In the United States, the executive branch includes the President, and other executive officers like state governors.

Section 1 of Article 2 of the Constitution

Section 1 has 8 different clauses that all describe the rights and role of the President and Vice President of the country.

Clause 1: This is the vesting clause which says that the President of the United States has the executive power and will hold his or her office for a four year term along with a vice president for the same term.

Clause 2: Both the president and the vice president are chosen by the electors, who are usually picked by the state legislatures. Each state can choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives for that state.

Clause 3: Once the electors are chosen, they will meet in their state to vote on who shall be President and Vice President. Originally, the person with the most votes would become President while the second highest would become Vice President. However, after the passing of the 12th Amendment, Electors would vote once for a President and once for a Vice President.

Clause 4: Congress has the power to decide when Election Day will be held. Currently, the states choose their electors on the Tuesday after November’s first Monday. The electors then vote on the second Wednesday of December.

Clause 5: In order for an individual to be qualified to be President or Vice President, he or she must be a natural born citizen, at least 35 years old, and must have lived in the United Starts for 14 years.

Clause 6: If the President resigns, dies, is removed from office, or is not able to act out his duties, the Vice President will be responsible for replacing the President. If the Vice President is unable to continue his office, Congress must choose a suitable offer to replace him or her until the next election.

Clause 7: The President’s salary cannot change during his term. He also cannot get money from any other state or federal government.

Clause 8: The President must take an oath before entering his office

Section 2 of Article 2 of the Constitution

Section 2 has three different clauses that talk about the powers given to the President.

Clause 1: The President of the United States is the commander-in-chief of the military. This clause also creates a Cabinet of senior executive officers who assist the President in his duties.

Clause 2: This clause is called the Advice and Consent clause, which means that the President can use his powers only by getting help and approval of the United States Congress.

Clause 3: The President has the power to appoint officers during recesses of the court, but these appointments expire once the next session of the Senate begins.

Section 3 of Article 2 of the Constitution

Section 3 has five different clauses that talk about the responsibilities of the President.

Clause 1: The President has to give Congress information occasionally through a State of the Union address.

Clause 2: The President can call for sessions of the House of Representative, the Senate, or both.

Clause 3: The President will receive all foreign ambassadors.

Clause 4: The President must work to ensure that all laws are faithfully executed.

Clause 5: The President has the power to commission the officers of the United States, including those in the military or the foreign service.

Section 4 of Article 2 of the Constitution

Section 4 is the last section of Article 2. This section talks about impeachment of the President, Vice President, or any civil officers like Cabinet Secretaries or judges.

What is Article 3 of the Constitution?

Article 3 of the United States Constitution is the section that creates the judicial branch in the United States. The Judicial branch is the system of courts that look at the law and applies it to different cases. In the United States, the judicial branch of the federal government includes the United States Supreme Court and all the lower courts that are created by Congress

Section 1 of Article 3 of the Constitution

Section 1 of Article 3 of the Constitution creates the federal courts in the United States. In this part of Article 3, it says that the federal court system must have one Supreme Court. In this Supreme Court, there must be a Chief Justice who presides over the court. While Section 1 of Article 3 does not say how many justices there must be, the current law says that there must be nine justices, one of them being the Chief Justice. Article 3 does not say there has to be any lower courts. Instead, Congress is given the power to create and remove lower courts. Section 1 of Article 3 also says that judges can hold their offices for the rest of their lives or until they are convicted or impeached by Congress. The last part of Section 1 of Article 3 says that a judge’s pay cannot be decreased while they are in office, but it can be increased.

Section 2 of Article 3 of the Constitution

Section 2 of Article 3 of the Constitution talks about the powers of the judicial branch and explains who gets each power. This describes which cases a court can preside over and what topics those cases can be about. Section 2 of Article 3 states that the Supreme Court has the right to hear any case for the first time, meaning that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction. This section also says that crimes have to be tried by a jury unless the defendant does not want one.

section 3 of Article 3 of the Constitution

Section 3 of Article 3 of the Constitution only talks about treason. This part of Article 3 says that treason is when someone tries to attack or wage war against the United States or if he or she tries to help enemies do so in some way. In order to prove that someone committed treason, there must be at least two different witnesses to the act, or the person must confess to treason.

Article 4 of the United States Constitution is the section that talks about the states. Article 4 discusses the responsibilities and duties of the states as well as what responsibilities the federal government has to the States. 

Section 1 of Article 4 of the Constitution

Section 1 of Article 4 is called the Full Faith and Credit Clause. This section of Article 4 requires each state to extend credit and full faith to the public acts, court proceedings, and records to other states. Congress has the right to watch how this happens.

Section 2 of Article 4 of the Constitution

Section 2 of Article 4 of the Constitution talks about what obligations the states have.

Clause 1: Clause of Section 2 Article 4 is also called the Privileges and Immunities Clause. This clause says that the states must protect immunities and privileges between states. 

Clause 2: Clause 2 is called the Extradition Clause. According to this clause, any person who is charged with a crime and tries to run to another state can be forced by the local authorities to return to the original state. This is called extradition.

Clause 3: Clause 3 of Section 2 Article 4 is called the Fugitive Slave Clause. This clause was first applied to fugitive slaves during slavery. If a slave ran away to another state, they would have to be brought back to the original state so the owner could claim the slave. However, this clause is no longer necessary since slavery was abolished by the 13th Amendment.

Section 3 of Article 4 of the Constitution

Section 3 of Article 4 talks about federal property and any new states that are accepted into the union.

Clause 1: According to this clause, new states can be admitted into the Union by Congress. However, new states cannot be made by combining multiple states that already exist, unless they get permission from the state legislatures.

Clause 2: This is the Territorial Clause, sometimes called the Property Clause. According to this clause, the United Congress has the final power over any territory in the country. This clause also lets Congress get remove other territories or create laws for them.

Section 4 of Article 4 of the Constitution

Section 4 of Article 4 is the last section of Article 4. It talks about what obligations the United States has.

Clause 1: This clause is often called the Guarantee clause. According to this clause, the United States federal government must guarantee each state a government that is a Republic.

Clause 2: This clause protects each state against invasion or domestic violence.

What is Article 5 of the Constitution?

Article 5 of the United States Constitution is the article that about how the United States Constitution can be changed. The only ways to change the constitution is by adding an amendment.

Text of Article 5 of the Constitution

The text of Article 5 is the following:

” The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. “

How Does Article 5 Let Congress Change the Constitution?

If Congress thinks it is necessary to change the Constitution, at least two thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate have to propose an Amendment to the Constitution. In order to do this, Congress has to call an Article 5 Convention or an Amendments convention. During this process, the President of the United States cannot do anything to help or stop the process.

Ratifying an Amendment under Article 5

After an amendment is officially proposed, it must then be ratified, or approved on, by the legislatures of at least 75% of the states. Once enough of the states ratify the amendment, it becomes law in all of the states. Sometimes, a state will ratify an amendment that has been already passed as a symbol of how important the amendment is. For example, every state ratified the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery.

Even though Article 5 does not specifically say how long the state legislatures have to ratify an amendment, Congress can give a deadline if they want to.

What is Article 6 of the Constitution?

Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution first says that any debts or engagements that the country was involved in before the Constitution was put into action are still valid. Article 6 also says that the United States Constitution is the highest law of the country and that all state and federal officers and judges have to uphold the Constitution and all of its rules.

Text of Article 6 of the Constitution

The text of Article 6 is as follows:

“All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States”

Clause 1 of Article 6: Debts

Clause 1 of Article 6 says that if there were any debts before adopting the Constitution, they are still valid and have the same terms as if they were still under the Articles of Confederation.

Clause 2 of Article 6: the Supremacy Clause

Clause 2 of Article 6 is known as the Supremacy clause. In this clause, the Constitution says that any federal laws that are made according to the Constitution are the supreme laws. That means that state laws that go against federal laws are not valid. Even state courts must follow federal law before state law.

Clause 3 of Article 6: Oaths

Clause 3 of Article 6 is the final clause of Article 6. It says that executive officers, judges, and state and federal legislators must follow an oath saying that they will support the Constitution.

What is Article 7 of the Constitution?

Article 7 of the U.S. Constitution is the very last article of the United States Constitution. Article 7 explains how many state ratifications are needed in order for the proposed Constitution to take place in the United States and how a state could go about ratifying the Constitution. Before the Constitution, all of the states were following the government that was created in the Articles of Confederation.

Background of Article 7 of the Constitution

According to Article 7, at least nine states needed to ratify the Constitution in order for it to be applied to all of the states. The states began ratifying the Constitution on December 7, 1787, when the Delaware legislature ratified the United States Constitution. The ninth state to ratify was New Hampshire in June 21, 1788. At this point, the only states who had not ratified out of the thirteen original colonies were Virginia, North Carolina, and New York. It was important have the rest of the states ratify because Virginia had the most people living and New York was the richest state. These two states eventually ratified before Congress of the Confederation set up March 4, 1789 as the day to start proceeding under the United States Government. Rhode Island and North Carolina ratified the United States Constitution after the Bill of Rights was given to the states to ratify.