American Government Study Guide

Chapter 3: Articles of the Constitution

Overview The Constitution of the United States of America is seven articles long and covers the basic plan of government for the new United States of America. This plan of government contains the foundational principles of government discussed in chapter one and the goals of the constitution in the preamble from chapter two. It organizes the structure of the government, sets rules and guidelines for the states, and gives room to amend the constitution. Learning Objectives 1. Identify the major themes of each article of the constitution. 2. Identify the principles of government through the actual writing of the constitution. 3. Describe the relationship between state and federal powers. 4. Understand the amendment process and how dif�icult the process is to enact. 5. Evaluate whether the constitution �ixed the issues of the Articles of Confederation. 3.1 Article I Legislative Branch After the failed Articles of Confederation, the new constitution needed to provide a better system for making laws incorporating the idea that a stronger central government was needed. There were two major plans for a legislative branch, the Virginia Plan and the New Jersey Plan. The Virginia Plan fa- vored states with the bigger populations having representatives based on total population of a state, while the New Jersey plan favored states with small populations by giving one vote per state. A com- promise was reached and the founding fathers decided to create a bicameral legislature , or two houses/chambers to make the laws of the land. One house is call the House of Representatives. Each state gets representatives based on their total population and can be adjusted if the state gains or loses population. In order to be a representative, one must be twenty- �ive years of age, be a citizen for seven years, and be a resident of the state that the individual is representing. The term length for each representative is two years. The number of people represented between representatives is as equitable as possible. Currently, there are 435 rep- resentatives in the House of Representatives. The other house is called the Senate. Each state get two senators ensuring equal representation be- tween all of the states within the Senate. In order to be a senator, one must be twenty-eight years of age, be a citizen for nine years, and be a resident of the state that the individual is representing. The term length for each senator is six years. Currently, there are 100 senators in the Senate and if there is a 50-50 tie on a vote, the Vice President of the United States is the tiebreaking vote.

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