Info Brief: A Walking Tour of Article I’s Text

Learn about Article I of the United States Constitution.

Big Idea

With Congress, the Founding generation set up a national legislature to make the nation’s laws. They looked to create a new national legislature with more authority—and ability to act—than the one that came before it, but also one of limited powers.

Introduction to the Constitution's Text

Let’s begin—as we always do when interpreting the Constitution—with the Constitution’s text.

The Framers set out the basic structure of the national government—in other words, its three branches—in Articles I through III.

Article I establishes the national government’s legislative branch: Congress. Let’s focus first on how the text of Article I shapes Congress’s role in the national government.

Article I is the longest part of the Constitution. That’s because the Founding generation thought that Congress would be the most powerful—and most dangerous—branch of government.

Before turning to the debates over Congress at the Constitutional Convention, let’s do a walkthrough of Article I!

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.”

This short introduction is really important! It says not only that Congress has all of the legislative power, but also that that power must be divided into two legislative houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. We call this “bicameralism.”

But what must these two houses look like? For the answer to that question, let’s look to Sections 2 and 3.

Article I, Section 2, lays out the requirements for the U.S. House of Representatives. Representatives are elected directly by the people. The number of representatives each state receives is determined by a state’s population. The more people in a given state, the more representatives it receives in the U.S. House. Representatives must be at least 25-years-old. They serve for two-year terms. They can run for reelection.

Article I, Section 3, lays out the requirements for the Senate. In the original text of this Section, Senators were not elected directly by the people, but chosen by state legislatures. Each state, regardless of population, enjoys two Senators. Senators must be at least 30-years-old. They serve for six-year terms—with one-third of the Senate elected every two years. Each Senator can run for reelection.

Today, Senators are elected directly by the American people—not the state legislatures. This is because of the Seventeenth Amendment—ratified in 1913.

Article I, Section 4: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations…”

This section preserves federalism in elections. States have a vital role in managing and administering elections for both legislative houses, but Congress also has the power to issue its own national guidelines for states.

Article I, Section 5: “Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members… Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member….”

This section gives both houses of Congress the power to certify election results (officially, to “seat” the representatives and senators), and to set all of the legislative procedures and rules for doing business within each House. Other parts of this section set guidelines for absences, how many representatives need to be present for legitimate voting, and other administrative matters.

Article I, Section 6: “The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services… [F]or any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place. No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States… and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.”

This section has two main parts. The first says that members of Congress will be paid for the work, and that they are protected from being prosecuted or held liable for speeches and debates made during each session. (This is called the Speech or Debate Clause. And remember—the Bill of Rights, with the First Amendment, wasn’t ratified yet!) The second part explains that no member of Congress can simultaneously serve as a different officeholder under the authority of the United States.

Article I, Section 7: “All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills…”

Let’s take Section 7 in smaller bites. This first part explains that all revenue-raising laws (think taxes) have to start in the House of Representatives. This is known as the Origination Clause. Remember, the original Senate was not directly elected; this clause was a way of making sure that taxing power started with the only body that directly represented the people at the time—the House of Representatives.

Article I, Section 7 (continued): …Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it… If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law….

This second part is huge! Once both houses agree to pass a bill, it is sent to the President. The President can sign the bill, turning it into a law. But the President can also say no! This is the presidential veto. But this section also gives Congress the power to override the presidential veto, if two-thirds of both houses still want to pass the law, even after the President has vetoed it.

Article I, Section 8, begins with a simple phrase: “The Congress shall have Power To…” And after that comes a long list of the many enumerated powers that Congress has. It’s one of the most important parts of the Constitution. It helps define Congress’s role in our government. Some of the examples of congressional powers listed in Section 8 include the “Power to”:

“To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; . . .

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support Armies . . .

To provide and maintain a Navy;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.”

Section 8 is huge! It includes some of the most important functions of Congress.

Article I, Section 9, limits the powers that Congress has. And it comes right after the big list of Congress’s many powers! This reflects the Framers’ vision for the new Congress: Congress had to be more powerful than the legislature under the Articles of Confederation; but the principles of the Revolution still required a national government of limited, enumerated powers. So, to reflect that vision, the Framers listed some powers that Congress didn’t have.

Some of the no's in Section 9 protect rights and liberties.

For instance, take a look at the following clauses:

“The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. . . .

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States . . . .”

The first item, protecting the writ of habeas corpus, is an important right protecting people from being arrested and imprisoned by the government without a good reason. Even so, notice that even Article I, Section 9, allows Congress to suspend habeas corpus in times of emergency; Congress did so during the Civil War and Reconstruction.

The second clause listed, forbidding Bills of Attainder and ex post facto laws, prevents Congress from passing certain types of laws that punish people, including those written to apply to a specific person (a bill of attainder) and those that apply retroactively—meaning that Congress cannot punish people for actions that were legal when they occurred (an ex post facto law).

However, not all of the no’s in Section 9 represent the protection of rights and liberties. The third clause listed above prevented Congress from granting titles of nobility in the United States. The Constitution made it clear that in America, we would have no formal aristocracy.

Finally, as we discussed in Unit #3, one of the tragic compromises in the Constitution was a clause that prevented Congress from abolishing the international slave trade until at least 1808. That compromise made its way into Article I, Section 9:

“The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.”

Article I, Section 10 is our last stop on our tour of Article I. It also provides a list of no’s—but this time, it’s a list of powers denied to the state governments. Many of these no’s—like ex post facto laws and Bills of Attainder—are the same as in Section 9. But this time, the Framers made sure that states didn’t have these powers either. This is another example of the Constitution’s system of federalism. The Constitution defines, limits, and divides powers between the national and state governments.

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