Article VII of the U.S. Constitution

Article VII of the Constitution sets the criteria by which the newly created Constitution would be adopted.  Whenever nine states ratified it, the Constitution would come into effect for those states approving it.  The article called for ratifying conventions in the states, rather than allowing state legislatures to vote on it.

In addition, this article contains the signatures of those individuals who participated in the creation of the Constitution.  Below is a listing of the individuals who signed the document.  The Constitutional Convention completed its business on September 17, 1787.  New Hampshire was the ninth state to ratify the Constitution and did so on June 21, 1788.  The first Congress under the Constitution met in March of 1789.

Delaware                      Maryland                                 Virginia
George Read                  James McHenry                        George Washington*
Gunning Bedford, Jr.        Daniel Carroll                             John Blair
John Dickinson               Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer       James Madison, Jr.
Richard Bassett            
Jacob Broom


North Carolina              Georgia                                   New Hampshire
William Blount                William Few                              John Langdon
Richard Dobbs Spaight    Abraham Baldwin                       Nicholas Gilman
Hugh Williamson


Massachusetts              Connecticut                             New York
Nathaniel Gorham           William Samuel Johnson            Alexander Hamilton
Rufus King                      Roger Sherman

New Jersey                                  Pennsylvania
William Livingston                          Benjamin Franklin
David Brearly                                 Thomas Mifflin
William Patterson                           Robert Morris
Jonathan Dayton                            George Clymer
                                                     Thomas FitzSimons
                                                     Jared Ingersoll
                                                     James Wilson
                                                     Gouverneur Morris

* Served as President of the Convention

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution: Supremacy

Article VI of the U.S. Constitution obligated the new government created by the Constitution to assume the debts owed by the government under the Articles of Confederation.

This article also established the supremacy of the Constitution, and those federal laws and treaties made under it, over state laws.  Stating that the Constitution and subsequent laws are the "supreme law of the land."

In addition, Article VI requires legislators and members of the executive and judicial branches of the national government and the state governments to swear an oath of allegiance to the Constitution.  It also bans any religious qualification for serving in an office under the United States.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution: Amending the Constitution

Article V of the Constitution creates the process by which this document can be changed.  There are two ways to initiate an amendment to the Constitution.  Both ways require a two-step process.

First, Congress may initiate the process by passing a proposed constitutional amendment.  Two-thirds of both the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote in favor of an amendment in order for it to be forwarded to the states for ratification.  The state legislatures may serve as the vehicle for ratification (approval), or states may hold conventions which are specifically granted the authority to vote on ratification of proposed amendments.  Either way, the requirement for ratification is that three-fourths of the states must approve the constitutional amendment.

Second, the states may petition Congress to call a special constitutional convention.  Congress is obligated to  call such a convention once two-thirds of the states have petitioned it to do so.  This convention would be empowered to create proposed amendments that would then be sent to the states for ratification.  Again, three-fourths of the states would have to approve the proposals either through their legislatures or through specifically called state conventions.

Here's a chart that might be helpful to understand the different ways to amend the Constitution:

Three issues were protected from the amendment process:

• No amendment interfering with the importation of slaves into the U.S. was allowed prior 1808
• No amendment creating a direct tax unless it was in proportion to the census was allowed prior to the year 1808
• No amendment can alter the equal representation of each state in the Senate

In Defense of Partisanship

Somewhere along the line, "partisanship" has gotten a bad rap.  I think this is wrong-headed and perverts the notion of representative democracy.  So here's my defense of all the "partisan bickering" the talking media heads consistently malign.

Partisanship is generally referred to when Republican and Democrat elected officials are unable to reach compromise on legislative items (especially major items).  It is generally implied that adherence to party principles or ideas has interfered with creating public policy.  It is also assumed that the policy created through compromise will be better than no change in current policy.

However, what most pundits and academics fail to consider, is that elected officials are expected to represent the views of those who elected them.  Now this will strike some as an overly limited view of representation.  Elected officials, it is often argued, are supposed to represent all of their constituents, or "all of the people", or even, the national interests as a whole.  While these high sounding platitudes make us feel good about the role of an elected official, they fail to align with the reality or purpose of a representative system.

An elected official, first and foremost, is responsible for representing the interests of the people who actually

elected them.  This group of people, more often than not, come predominantly from one party or the other.  In fact, the official was in large measure elected because of his or her membership in that party, and their presumed fealty to that party's political principles.  Abandonment of those principles in the pursuit of compromise can be viewed as a betrayal of the very people the official is bound to represent.

In short, Republicans don't elect Republican officials who will begin voting with Democrats once in office.  And Democrats expect Democrat officials to vote in accordance with the party's principles, not to vote like Republican officials.  Quite frankly, neither Republicans or Democrats are elected to compromise.  This should be celebrated not denigrated.

To the extent that a Republican or Democrat holds true to their party's political principles, they increase the value of party labels and the meaningfulness of elections.  They make selecting officials an easier process by ensuring that voters genuinely understand how a particular official will likely vote on a variety of issues.  Partisanship ensures the integrity of the electoral process.

Partisanship is as old as representative government.  It is as central to our system as any element of the Constitution.  It is what breathes life into many of the issues elected officials must make decisions about.  Partisanship helps to create the conflict from which most real political achievements arise.  So here's three cheers for partisanship!  May it always rear its head when the specter of compromise approaches.

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution

Article IV of the U.S. Constitution establishes the guidelines by which states are to interact with one another.

Section 1
Section one contains the "full faith and credit" clause.  It requires that each state recognize the "public acts, records, and judicial proceedings" of every other state.  However, this is followed up with a clause empowering Congress to determine how and when this clause will apply.

Note:  This clause is what allows you to drive from your home state to another without having to secure a driver's license in each state you pass through.  It is also what allows a couple married in one state to move to another without having to be remarried.  However, because Congress acted in 1996 through the Defense of Marriage Act, it prevented states from having to acknowledge same-sex marriages if they chose not to do so.  This portion of the Constitution is what enabled them to pass that legislation.

Section 2
Section Two attempts to establish the principle of equality before the law, by stating that a citizen of any one state is "entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states."  This section also establishes the principle of extradition between the states.  Prior to passage of the 13th Amendment, this section also required fugitive slaves to be returned to their masters.

Section 3
This section establishes the process for a new state being created or accepted into the union.  Congress is the institution that must formally adopt a new state.  In addition, this section prevents Congress from creating a new state out of one or more states without the consent of those states' legislatures.  This section also gives Congress the power to regulate, or dispose of the properties of the U.S., including territories.

Section 4
Section Four enumerates the national government's responsibilities to the states.  They include:

• Ensuring each state has a republican form of government (i.e., representation, elections, division of powers, etc.)
• Protection from foreign invasion
• Protection from domestic violence (when requested by the legislature or executive of a particular state)

Article III of the U.S. Constitution - The Judicial Power

Article III of the United States Constitution creates and defines the judicial power of the national government.

Section 1
Article I of this article places the judicial power of the United States in "one Supreme Court."  It also gives Congress the authority to create additional federal courts whose jurisdiction is below the Supreme Court. This article allows judges to hold their offices during "good behavior" (commonly referred to as lifetime appointments) and authorizes compensation for judges, which cannot be reduced while they are in office.

Note:  Unlike Articles I & II, Article III does not establish any constitutional requirements for serving on the Supreme Court or on other federal courts.  No age, citizenship, or residency requirements are created for members of the judiciary.

Section 2
In this section, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is defined.  The jurisdiction extends to all cases "in law and equity" arising under the Constitution, laws subsequently passed under the Constitution, and treaties.  Specifically, their jurisdiction extends to:

• All cases affecting federal officials
• Maritime law
• Controversies in which the U.S. government is involved
• Disputes between two or more states

Note:  In the original text, the power of the court also extended to cases in which states were states were involved in disputes with the citizens of other states or with foreign citizens or governments.  This was changed by adoption of the 11th Amendment.

The original jurisdiction (the right of the Court to be the first to hear a case) of the Supreme Court is extended to cases involving federal officials or in cases in which a state is a party.  In all other cases, the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction (the right to review the decisions of lower courts).  However, Section 2 leaves open the ability of Congress to regulate the jurisdiction of the Court.

Section 2 guarantees the right to a trial by jury in criminal cases, and requires that criminal trials be held in the state they were committed.

Section 3

Section 3 defines "treason" and creates a specific criteria for convicting

an individual for treason.  Treason is defined as:

• Levying war against the U.S.
• Adhering to the enemies of the U.S.
• Giving the enemies of the U.S. "aid and comfort"

No person can be convicted of treason unless their are two witnesses to the "same overt act," or unless a confession is given in open court.  While Congress is given the authority to establish the punishment for treason, it cannot "work corruption of blood."

Note:  "Corruption of blood" commonly refers to a practice in which the relatives of the individual convicted are also punished by preventing any inheritance being passed on to the convict's family.