Articles in the Constitution
Article 1: The Legislative Branch Tells how Congress will be organized. Congress = group that makes laws Includes official requirements, pay, how bills become laws, etc. Article 1 Section 8: Powers of Congress (we’ll look at this more when we study Congress)
Article 2: The Executive Branch The executive branch carries out and enforces laws Includes, the President, Vice President, and the Cabinet. Article includes qualifications, election procedures for Prez/VP, and pay Art. 2 Section 2: The Powers of the Executive Branch
Article 3: The Judicial Branch This article sets up the Supreme Court and gives the government power to create lower federal courts. Article 4: Relations Among the States Details how legal systems should deal with conflicts between states. Full Faith & Credit Clause: States have to give citizens of other states the same rights as their own citizens. Section 3 explains how to create new states.
Article 5: Amendments No amendments allowed until 1808 Process: Most amendments start in Congress. Two-thirds of Congress must agree, and then they have to get the approval of three-fourths of the state legislatures. Only one amendment has started in a constitutional convention of the states. In this situation, two-thirds of the states have to agree and then three-fourths of Congress has to approve it.
Article 6: National Supremacy The U.S. under the Constitution will still be responsible for debts under the Articles of Confederation Federal law is the supreme law of the land and trumps state and local laws All federal and state officials must swear to abide by the Constitution Article 7: Ratification Nine states have to agree in order for the Constitution to be ratified.