The Articles

The Articles of Confederation, which preceded the Constitution, had 13 articles; the Constitution has seven. An article is “a clause, item, point, or particular in a contract, treaty, or other formal agreement.” Our Constitution is organized by a simple outline:

Article I: Legislative branch of government (Senate & House)

Article II: Executive branch (President & Vice-President)

Article III: Judicial branch (Supreme Court & inferior courts)

Article IV: States’ rights

Article V: Amendment process

Article VI: Debts, treaties, oaths

Article VII: Brief ratification statement

Articles I-IV have subsections detailing the main points; the last three articles have no subsections and are simple and straight- forward. The entire document has just over 4,000 words or 9 pages typed in Times Roman 12 point font. When compared with the ridiculously inflated bills that come out of today’s House and Senate, some of which are hundreds or thousands of pages long, this amazing Constitution is easy to read and wastes no words.

I wonder if the Founders were thinking about Ecclesiastes 5:2 when they wrote this document: "God is in heaven, and you upon the earth: therefore let your words be few."

“Man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.” --Ronald Reagan