On to the Articles!

ByGD

On to the Articles!

I write a lot of articles, and this post should probably be a list of them (I try to do that monthly, but life). Instead, I’m continuing my exploration of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution comprises seven articles. I read the Preamble last week, and now I’m going to start the main text. Article 1, Section 1. Let’s roll!

The first Article of the Constitution deals with the Legislative branch of government. If you’re a kid, or your government skills are rusty, or the current administration’s complete disregard for protocol has got you confused, here is a quick recap on the branches of government.

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{If the embed doesn’t work, try this link to Schoolhouse Rock Three Branches of Government.

The Framers were all about checks and balances, because their main beef with England was the overreach of government power (Disagree? Discuss in the comments). So, Article 1 delineates the powers of the legislature. And that begins with Section 1:

All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

You can’t limit the power of a legislature until you have a legislature to limit. So the first article establishes a bicameral legislature. Boom! Done. Class dismissed.

Oh, okay, it is pretty significant that they decided to make it a two-part legislature instead of a single body. It’s almost impossible to overstate the Founding Fathers’ obsession with balance of power (and probably a good thing, too) and the decision to have two chambers was called “the Great Compromise” at the time, because there was such friction between large colonies and small colonies about representation. Ballotpedia has a nice little article on it, but basically, the small colonies were afraid they would be steamrolled by the big ones, while the big colonies didn’t want to give disproportionate power to the smaller populations of the small colonies. The bicameral solution was also familiar from English law, where one house represented the elite and the other represented everyone else. Further, as James Madison pointed out in the Federal Papers, one group of men can fuck up, but two different groups are unlikely to make the same mistake.

So remember. Bicameral. The power swings both ways.

Ready for Section 2?

About the author

GD administrator

I'm a freelance content and grant writer in Seattle specializing in parenting, arts and the environment.

11 Comments so far

Preamble | gemma D. alexanderPosted on11:03 am - Jun 24, 2017

[…] Ready to move on to the articles? […]

Article 1 §3.2: Staggering the Senate | gemma D. alexanderPosted on9:42 am - Aug 16, 2017

[…] Article, which deals with the legislative branch of government. The First Article has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

Constitution Article 1 §3.3: Qualifications for Senator | gemma D. alexanderPosted on10:11 am - Aug 23, 2017

[…] the First Article, which deals with the legislative branch of government. It has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

Constitution Article 1 §3.4: Vice President Breaks Ties and Records | gemma D. alexanderPosted on10:34 am - Aug 30, 2017

[…] the First Article, which deals with the legislative branch of government. It has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

Article 1 §3.5 Pro Tempore Presidents | gemma D. alexanderPosted on11:04 am - Sep 6, 2017

[…] the First Article of seven. It deals with the legislative branch of government and has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

About Impeachment, Constitution Article 1 §3.6 | gemma D. alexanderPosted on11:55 am - Sep 13, 2017

[…] article of seven. Article One deals with the legislative branch of government and has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

Limiting Consequences, Constitution Article 1 §3.7 | gemma D. alexanderPosted on12:55 pm - Sep 20, 2017

[…] of seven articles. Article One deals with the legislative branch of government and has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. I’m […]

Article 1 §4.1 on Elections and Districts | gemma D. alexanderPosted on11:01 am - Sep 27, 2017

[…] am reading Article One, which deals with the legislative branch of government and has 10 sections. Section One establishes a bicameral Congress and Section Two deals with the House of Representatives. Section […]

No Slacking, Constitution Article 1 §5.4 | gemma D. alexanderPosted on9:21 am - Nov 1, 2017

[…] seven), and today I will finish section 5 (of 10 in this section). For those of you just tuning in, Article 1 is all about the legislative branch of government. Section 5 has been reading a lot like what […]

On Pay and Protections, Constitution, Article 1 §6.1 | gemma D. alexanderPosted on9:37 am - Nov 8, 2017

[…] am currently reading Article 1 (there are seven), and today I will begin Section 6 (of 10 in this section). For those of you just […]

The Origination Clause, Article 1 §7.1 | gemma D. alexanderPosted on12:40 pm - Nov 22, 2017

[…] Article 1 of the Constitution is all about the legislature. Section 6 was a curious little section framed as limitations on what electeds can do, but really designed to protect them from undue influence from the executive branch. Section 7, Clause 1 actually gets its own name. It’s called the Origination Clause. It even has a nickname, the Revenue Clause. […]

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