| So, let's get things thing kicked off! Oh, before we start, the Dog is using the Emory Law School's Constitution Website for all of the quotes from the Constitution. You can find it here.
The Constitution starts with the Preamble, which many of you might remember from the great School House Rock animation:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The above are some of the most powerful and meaningful words that have ever been written in the English language. To the Dog this one very long and run on sentence is the core of what our country is. It talks of the people, not citizens, not land owners, not whites, not men but all the people. It is true that at least some (if not most) of the framers thought people equaled white, land owning men, when they wrote that, but the choice of words speaks to the inclusiveness that is a hallmark of our current democracy. Without those first six words, we would be a very different country.
The preamble goes on to describe what the People intend to do with this document, the core needs that the framers felt had to be enshrined if their new country was to prosper and not become decedent. Work towards a more perfect (but not completely perfect or stagnant) Union. To establish Justice (which is different from revenge), insure domestic tranquility (avoiding war within the new Union), Provide for the common defense (we are stronger together than we are apart), promote the general welfare (we are only as strong as the weakest among us) and live in liberty for now and the future.
Those 18th Century politicians set lofty goals for themselves and their decedents didn't they? Call the Dog a freak if you like, but since he was a kid, any time those words are spoken or he reads them, a chill comes over the Dog.
Now lets look at Article One:
Section One:
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.
Article 1, Section 1 sets out the form of the Congress, two houses, one called the Congress (thanks for making that confusing, founding fathers!) and the other the Senate. It also reserves all legislative power for these two Houses. Those elected to these Houses have the right to make all laws. It is their responsibility alone that brings new Federal laws into being. Of course they are not the final say, as the framers where very concerned that too much power would accrue into the hands of a few, but they are the only ones that can write and pass legislation.
Section Two:
There are five clauses in Section Two, all of which deal with the who can be in Congress and what responsibilities they will have.
Clause One:
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
This clause sets out that we will elect our Congressmen/woman every two years from each state. They will have to be qualified as set out in Clause Two.
Clause Two:
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Clause Two seems pretty straightforward. To the framers 25 years old was much more mature then we consider it today. When the Dog was 25 he was barely fit for polite society, let alone a seat in the Congress. The Dog thinks that the intent here was to have someone that had a stake in the success of the country be one of its representatives. They did not want those that had not made something of themselves to be Congressmen.
Note that they were also very aware that you could be 25 and have not been a citizen for all of that time. The immigrant nature of our country is clear in the Constitutions prevision that you only need be a citizen for seven years before you are able to serve in high office.
Finally the framers were concerned that those who would represent a State in the Congress actually be from that State. This is likely a response to the Lordships in England where a member of House of Lords might never be present in the lands that he represented and therefore not know the real conditions and needs of those people.
Clause Three:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.2 The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
In this clause the Constitution sets out the way that taxes and the number of Representatives will be apportioned, both the new United States and in the future. It also includes one of the clearest instances of institutional racism in our history, when it declares:
three fifths of all other Persons.
This is a direct reference to the multitude of African and Caribbean slaves that were held at that time. It is to our everlasting credit that we have changed this to no longer be operative, but it is also to our everlasting shame that we had such a system and that it required a civil war to end it.
The maximum size of a Congressional constituency was set at 30,000, but at the time of the writing of this document, there was no accurate census of the new nation. Article Three allows three years for the first one to be completed and sets a standard of one census every ten years. This is an important feature as it guarantees that there we check to see if each state has neither too little voice nor to much voice in the Congress based on the size of its population.
It is interesting to the Dog that while the constitution requires a census it leaves the method of that census completely up to the Congress. In theory, they could decide that to be counted every citizen would have to sign their name on a piece of paper, or report to a central location to be counted. This is a area we should be thinking about in 2009, as there a many better and more accurate ways of counting our citizens (and others) than we currently use. It is always a fight and it is very rare that we do anything to make this as accurate as the founders would have liked.
Clause Four:
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
In this clause the Constitution provides for situations where an unscheduled vacancy in the House of Representatives occurs. It seems to say that the Chief Executive of the State where the vacant seat is from will hold a special election to fill that vacancy.
Clause Five:
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
This clause is where the biggest stick the Congress has to wield is found. The United States House of Representatives is the sole possessor of the power of Impeachment. It allows them to indict the President and others.
It also sets out the in clear language that only the Congress can choose who will be Speaker and Officers of the Congress.
We will stop here for this week. What do you think fellow citizens and activists? Have you ever read and thought about our Constitution? Is it something worth doing or is the Dog barking up the wrong tree? Next week Section Three and the rules for the Senate!
The floor is yours!
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