The Constitution of the United States Part 3: "The Legislative Branch Sections 1-5"

Article one of the Constitution covers the Legislative Branch. It is the largest part, but that doesn't mean that the most important. Our founders insisted that we have three co-equal branches of government with each one having a check and balance on the other. However, I believe the legislative branch is the most complex because it encompasses the house of representatives and the senate. We will cover the first five sections in this post.

Article I 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.

That simply means that only the legislative branch can make laws. The President of the United States can't make laws, the Supreme Court can't make laws, only the legislative branch can.

The Great Compromise
Before we can cover section two (The House of Representatives) and Section three (The Senate), we need to talk about the Great Compromise. Two plans were being debated in terms of how states would be represented.

The Virginia Plan stated that each state should have a certain number of representatives based on their population. Large states (like Virginia, Pennsylvania, etc.) argued that because they had a larger population, they should have more of a say in what the federal government did. The smaller states were not a fan of this, so they made their own plan for representation.

The New Jersey Plan called for each state to have equal representation regardless of population. They argued that without equal representation, smaller states would have no say in what was being done by the federal government.

The Connecticut Plan, also known as "The Great Compromise" blended both plans together into the system we know today. The compromise set the standard for a two-house system with the House of Representatives would represent the people and is filled based on population and the Senate would represent the states and be filled equally by each state.

Section Two: The House of Representatives

Section two covers the House of Representatives. It states that representatives will be chosen every two years. The thought behind this was that they will be more in tune with their constituents because they have to face them for re-election every other year.

To be a representative, you must meet the following criteria:
1) Must be at least 25 years old.
2) Must be a Citizen of the United States for at least seven years.
3) Must be a Citizen of the State they are representing.

Then there is the question of how the population will be counted to determine the number of representatives. The basics:
1) Each state will have one representative for every 30,000 people.
2) Each state will have at least one representative, even if they don't meet the 30,000 thresholds.
3) Until each state can count its citizens, each state lists how many representatives it will have to start:

New Hampshire- 3, Massachusetts- 8, Rhode Island - 1, Connecticut- 5, New York - 6, New Jersey- 4, Pennsylvania- 8, Delaware- 1, Maryland- 6, Virginia- 10, North Carolina- 5, South Carolina- 5, Georgia-3

The 3/5 Compromise

It seems simple, right? Until we realize that this was in the age of slavery. Like free states, slave states wanted as many representatives as they could have, so they proposed that the slaves counted as part of their population when determining how many representatives their state was allotted. 

Free states, wanting to protect their own percentage of representatives, argued that since slaves were sold, traded, and treated as property, they should NOT be counted as part of a slave state population and instead, should be taxed similarly to horses and cattle.

Governor Morris (PA) argued that if the slave states wanted to count slaves as part of their population, then they should, "...make them citizens and let them vote."

Slave states weren't ready for that. Their entire agricultural economy based on slave labor so the compromise was reached to allow each slave to count as 3/5 of a person in terms of population.

Although claiming that a slave was only 3/5 of a person contradicted in the phrase, "All Men are Created Equal" as stated in the Declaration of Independence (Start reading my five-part series on the Declaration of Independence HERE), it seemed the only way to keep the convention together. This compromise, as horrifying as it sounds by 2020 standards, really started to change people's thinking on slavery, leading to Northern states passing anti-slavery laws and eventually leading to the 13th Amendment.

The Rest of Section Two

The rest of section two is pretty lackluster, yet very important. It states that the House of Representatives shall choose the Speaker of the House along with other officers and that the House has the sole Power of Impeachment.

It's important to note the House of Representatives has the power to Impeach, but the Senate has the sole power to try all Impeachments. It's another example of the separation of power.

Section 3: The Senate

Section three outlines the responsibilities, duties, and requirements for the Senate.  It declares that each State is authorized two Senators who will be elected for a term of six years. This is another interesting example of the separation of powers in that Representatives are elected for two years, while senators are elected for a period of six.

The founding fathers were concerned about a massive amount of turnover in the Senate, so the second paragraph in section three states that immediately upon election, Senators will be broken into three groups. Group one will be up for re-election after two years, group two will be up for election after four years, and group three will serve the full six-year term. After that first election, each senator will be elected for a full, six-year term. This grouping sets the Senate up for 1/3 of its members being up for re-election every two years, allowing for some continuity by limiting turnover all at once.

To be a Senator, you must meet the following criteria:
1) Must be at least 30 years old.
2) Must be a Citizen of the United States for at least nine years.
3) Must be a Citizen of the State they are elected from.

Realizing that there will always be an even number of Senators, the founding fathers then added a method of breaking a tie. In another example of separating powers, the Constitution states:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.

That means that if the Senate is split on a vote, the Vice President of the United States will break the tie. The First Vice President of the United States, John Adams broke 29 ties in the Senate. The most tie-breaking votes were conducted by Vice President John C. Calhoun between 3/4/1825 and 12/28/1832 with 31.


Impeachment
The last part of Section three covers the Senat's role in impeachment. The House of Representatives has the sole power of impeachment, but the Senate has the sole power to try all impeachments. Thi of this as, the police will bring charges against a bank robber, but the judge and jury will determine guilt or innocence. It is a complicated issue, so I will stick to the basics:

1) When trying an impeachment, each member will be under Oath.
2) If the President of the United States is being impeached, the Chief Justice will be in charge.
3) To convict a person being impeached, 2/3 of the Senate must vote to convict.
4) The only punishment that can be issued by impeachment is the removal from office and disqualification of holding any other office of honor, trust, or profit.
5) The convicted can be charged with other crimes according to the law.

Section 4: Elections

Section four tasks each state legislature to figure out when and how to hold the elections for their Representatives and Senators. It also states that congress shall assemble at least once per year on the first Monday of December. This was changed to January 3rd by the 20th Amendment. 

The interesting part here is that Congress is only mandated to meet one time throughout the year. Travel arrangements at the time did not allow for constant back and forth from a Congressmen state and Philadelphia and eventually Washington D.C. In today's travel environment, many congressmen and women work in the capital building during the week and fly to their home state for the weekend.

Section 5: Rules and Documentation

When the Constitution refers to, "each house," it means that it applies to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Section five states the following:

1) Each House will conduct its own votes.
2) Each House will have a majority of its members present to conduct business

3) Each House will make its own rules for conducting business and how it will punish its members.

4) If 2/3 of a House agrees, a member can be expelled.

5) Each House will keep a record of its work.

6) If 1/5 of the members want a roll call vote, it will be taken and the YEAs and NAYs recorded.

7) During a season of congress, neither house can adjourn for more than three days without permission from the other house.

There it is.

The first five sections of Article one.

I know that's A LOT!!  That's why I broke Article one into two posts.
Next week we will cover sections six through ten.

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Here is a link to the U.S. Constitution.

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Resources:

Hart, D., Bower, B., & Lobdell, J. (2002). History alive. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers Curriculum Institute.

https://constitutionus.com/

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/VPTies.pdf

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Great_Compromise.htm

http://totallyhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/We-the-People-of-the-United-States.jpg

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/looking-in-the-cultural-mirror/201007/the-census-and-race-part-ii-slavery-1790-1860

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwsj.html