As you may notice we are going a little bit out of order on our exploration here. I will justify this simply by stating, how can I place the overarching idea of Article I without investigating the contents of Sections 1-10 first. We will loop back to Article I when the sections are complete to do a full wrap up of the article.

Overview of each section

Article I – Sections 1-3 layout the fundamental structure of the legislative branch of government. Starting simply with Section 1, stating “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress”. The section concludes explaining that Congress “shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives”. As straight forward as this sounds it brings to question actions that have been performed in past years regarding the ability for other branches to pass legislation.

Entering Section 2 the basis for The House of Representatives is explained. “Members chosen every second Year by the People of several States,” meaning simply a democratic process lasting no more than two years between election cycles. The section continues by stating “Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.”, translating this into more simple English returns the statement, Voters in each state are required to meet the qualifications set forth by that state. Surprisingly without the addition of future amendments this translates to the ability for the states to decide who can and cannot cast their vote for elections to The House of Representatives. Completing the first paragraph in Section 2 are some limitations on who can be elected to the House including an age limit of at least 25 years old, citizenship for a minimum of 7 years, and required inhabitance of the state in which they are representing. Entering paragraph 2 of Section 2 we approach our first exert that had been changed by an amendment to The Constitution. At the current time we will investigate this as originally written and discuss the changes once we get to the 14th amendment which changed its meaning.

“Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.”

The Constitution, Article 1 – Section 2 – Paragraph 2 (Modified by the 13th, 14th, and 16th Amendments)

As originally written, this statement translates to, Representatives (officials of The House of Representatives) and direct taxes shall be divided through the states; the division is based on the free or indentured population in which those enslaved or native peoples were to be worth three fifths of a person. As this paragraph also goes on to give Congress the power to perform a census to ensure the above statement can be followed as well as the subsequent statements granting one elected representative to The House for ever 30,000 persons in a state. The final statement made in the paragraph grants a temporary number of representatives per state until the first census can be performed. Moving directly into paragraph 3, The Constitution grants The Executive Authority of a state (the governor) the ability to call an election to replace any vacancies from their state. The final paragraph of Section 2 is very straight forward, “The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.” This statement is the first time we see democracy ignored and instead allowing the appointment of persons not elected to a seat of power. This is not to say there is anything wrong with the idea although it is an overarching idea that will become more evident throughout the document.

As we move into Section 3 we are introduced to the second half of the legislative branch, the Senate. The Senate is to be created from two members from each State with a term of six years. Originally the members of the senate were to be “chosen by the legislature thereof” [of the state] and was later changed in the 17th Amendment to be comprised of publicly elected officials. To note, as stated earlier… this shows an understanding from our founding fathers that 100% democracy may not be the correct way to govern and instead utilizing the opinions of elected officials to appoint positions of power in the Senate. The first paragraph continues explaining that the states are to be divided ensuring that Senators will be elected every 2 years from 1/3 of the states and serve the above-mentioned 6 year terms. The final statement in Section 3 directly explains the method of replacing any vacancies, this was later changed by the 17th Amendment although originally read:

…”and if vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.”

The Constitution, Article 1 – Section 3 – Paragraph 1 (Modified by the 17th Amendment)

As stated here, my understanding, translated into simpler language is; If a vacancy occurs during a closure of the state government, the governor may appoint a senator of his choosing until the next chance that the state government is in session. The clear understanding of the founding fathers importance for a state to be aptly represented shows their planning for the eventuality of problems arising. With this said due to the 17th Amendment later making Senators publicly elected officials the vacancies of the Senate are handled differently… We’ll get there, be patient. As we move to Paragraph 2, the requirements for holding a seat at the Senate are defined. A person must be 30 years of age, 9 years a citizen, and must be an inhabitant of the state in which they are elected. Moving right along, Paragraph 3 states that the President of the Senate will be the Vice President of the US, he will have no vote except in the presence of a split senate (equally divided). Paragraph 4 explains the choosing of Officers including a backup president will be completed by the Senate. This “President pro tempore” or backup is only ever to be used in the cases in which the Vice-President is absent or the VP must take the office of the President. Into the 5th Paragraph we show the first hint of the foul-ability of officials, this paragraph gives the Senate the power to try all Impeachments. In such an early document as this, the founding fathers knew of the corruption of officials, with this stated they placed direct instructions on how to deal with them in our constitution.

“When sitting for that Purpose [impeachment], they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.”

The Constitution, Article 1 – Section 3 – Paragraph 5

Although this seems to grant judicial powers to the legislative branch, it is in limited capabilities… only dealing with impeachment and not with criminal insurrection. Two things in this statement showed very important to me, they state that only when impeaching the President shall the Chief Justice be required, showing the importance of the allegations of Presidential Impeachment as well as what I consider to be the first loophole of The Constitution. According to the very last clause, 2/3 members must be present at the time of impeachment, this meaning even if the vote was done today as 65 yay to 35 nay the impeachment process could be hauled simply by the 35 not showing up. As we move into Paragraph 6 it is made more clear the above-mentioned separation of trial of impeachment vs trial of criminal action.

“Judgement in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States; but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgement and Punishment, according to the Law.”

The Constitution, Article 1 – Section 3 – Paragraph 6

As shown the Senate only holds the power to remove someone from office once completed the judicial branch must complete any criminal proceedings.

Well this one has been fun… little lengthy though, Please feel free to join in on the discussion using the comment section or sign up on the right to be notified when we post our next section! If you are interested in joining this crazy adventure use the Contact page and I would be happy to feature your work on this site!

This has been a section on The Constitution Breakdown. Follow the link to view each section as you see fit.