Structure of the Constitution
The 7 Articles
Article I - Legislative
The “L” in Less stands for the Legislative Branch because Article I outlines the duties and responsibilities of Congress.
Article II - Executive
The nation's chief executive, the president, is the head of the executive branch.He sees that the government runs smoothly and that the laws of the land are enforced and obeyed.
Article III - Judicial
The “J” in Just stands for the Judicial Branch because Article III outlines the duties and responsibilities of the Supreme Court.
Article IV - States Rights
The “S” in Starts stands for States Rights because Article IV outlines the relationships between states.
Article V - Amendment
The “A” in A stands for the Amendment process because Article V outlines the way to amend or change the constitution.
An amendment is a change or addition to the Constitution. It takes two steps to add an amendment to the Constitution:
- the amendment is proposed by either a two-thirds vote in Congress, or a national convention made up of two-thirds of the states
- the amendment is ratified
Article VI-Supremacy
The “S” in Serious stands for the Supremacy of the Constitution because Article VI outlines supreme laws.
Any federal laws that are made according to the Constitution are the supreme laws. Supreme laws are the law of the land. State laws that go against federal laws are not valid so state courts must follow federal law before state law.
Article VII - Ratification
The “R” in Ruckus stands for the Ratification because Article VII outlines the the steps to make the constitution the law of the land.
To make the constitution the law of the land, it has to be ratified by either three-fourths of the state legislatures or by state conventions in three-fourths of the states.