The Constitution
15
Article 1 – Legislative Branch
Sec 1.
• Two house legislature
Sec. 2
• Qualifications and Terms of
members of the House
• elected every 2 years, 25 yrs
old, US citizen for 7 years,
resident of the state
• Three-fifths clause (13th A)
– The Fatal Compromise
• Impeachment power
Sec. 3
• Qualifications and Terms of members of the Senate
• elected every 6 years, 30 yrs old, US citizen for 9 years, resident of the state – Chosen by the
legislature (17th A)
• Vice Pres. is the President of the Senate – breaks ties
• Trials of impeachment / Chief Justice presides over President
– Punishment
Sec. 4
• Time, manner, and place of elections controlled by State Legislature – Congress can alter such
regulations
• Congress must meet once a
year
Sec. 5
• Each house determines its rules, a majority needed for a quorum – expulsion
• Must keep a journal of proceedings
Sec. 6
• Congress must be paid /
immune from arrest
• Can’t hold any other office
Sec. 6
• Congress must be paid / immune from arrest
• Can’t hold any other office
Sec. 7
• Revenue bills originate in the House - Why?
• Presentment Clause / veto power / 2/3rd override / pocket veto
Sec. 8 – Powers of Congress
• lay and collect taxes, provide
for the general welfare
• Borrow money
• Regulate Commerce – w/
foreign nations and among the
several states
• Naturalization and Bankruptcy rules
• Coin money and punish counterfeiting
• Establish a post office
• Intellectual Property rights
• To define and punish piracy
• To Declare War
• To raise an army and a navy
• Creation of and control of the
District of Columbia
• Necessary and Proper Clause
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper to carry into Execution the foregoing
Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States
Sec. 9
• Ban on the slave trade after 1808
• Prohibitions on Congress
- Writ of Habeas Corpus
- no bills of attainder
- no ex post facto laws
- No Direct tax on the people
- no taxes on exports from
a state
- no state preferences
- no titles of nobility
granted
Sec. 10
• Prohibitions on States
can’t make foreign treaties grant letters of Marque
can’t coin money
can’t pass bills of attainder
can’t pass ex post facto laws
can’t grant titles of nobility
• Can’t impair the obligation of
contracts
• Can’t lay duties or imposts on
interstate trade
Article II – The Executive Branch
Sec. 1
• Single executive - President of
the United States, V.P.
• Electoral college: electors can’t
be Member of Congress – 12th A
• Must be natural Born Citizen
– Hamilton clause
• 35 yrs old and a 14 year resident
of the US
• The president will get paid
• Oath of Office
V.P. succeeds Pres. and Congress determines the rest of the succession
Sec. 2
• Powers of the President
- Commander in Chief, Grant Reprieves and Pardons,
appointments, treaty making power (2/3rd approval of Senate) “advice and consent”
• Executive Offices
Sec. 3
• State of the Union address, execute the laws
Sec. 4
• Impeachment – Treason,
Bribery, and High Crimes and
Misdemeanors
Article III – The Judicial Branch
Sec.1
• Supreme Court and inferior courts as Congress shall make
• Judges shall hold their offices during “good behavior”
• Judges get paid
Sec. 2
• Original jurisdiction – Cases involving ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and cases
involving states – 11th A
• Appellate jurisdiction
• Trial by jury guaranteed – in the state where the crimes were committed
Sec. 3
• Definition of Treason
Article IV
Sec. 1
• Full Faith and Credit Clause
Sec. 2
• Privileges and Immunities Clause
• Extradition clause
• Fugitive Slave Clause
Sec. 3
• New states allowed
Sec. 4
• Guarantee Clause
Article V
Amending the Constitution
Step 1 – Proposing amendments
2/3rd of both Houses OR Constitutional Convention
Step 2 – 3/4th of the state legislatures or ratifying conventions
Article VI
• Debts paid
• Supremacy Clause
What is supreme? Constitution,
law passed by Congress, treaties
• No religious tests
Article VII
Ratification by 9 state ratifying conventions
The Bill of Rights
1) religion, speech, assembly, press, petition
2) bear arms
3) no quartering troops
4) search and seizure
5) due process, double jeopardy, self incrimination
6) speedy, public trial by jury
7) trial by jury in civil cases
8) cruel and unusual punishment
9) other rights retained
10)States rights