Article I comes first and is by far the longest: the framers saw the legislature as the heart of a republic. It builds on the Preamble's promise of government by the people.
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 | All legislative powers "herein granted" go to a Congress of a Senate and a House |
| 2–3 | The House (two-year terms, by population) and the Senate (two per state, six-year terms); impeachment and impeachment trials |
| 4–6 | Elections, rules of each house, pay, and the Speech or Debate Clause |
| 7 | How a bill becomes law: revenue bills start in the House; the President signs or vetoes; two-thirds of each house can override |
| 8 | The enumerated powers: tax and spend, borrow, regulate commerce, naturalization, coin money, post offices, patents, lower courts, declare war, armies, a navy, the militia, the capital, and the Necessary and Proper Clause |
| 9 | Limits on Congress: no suspending habeas corpus except in rebellion or invasion, no bills of attainder or ex post facto laws, no money spent without a law, no titles of nobility |
| 10 | Limits on the states: no treaties, no coining money, no bills of attainder or ex post facto laws, no impairing contracts, no taxing imports |
Why it works
Section 1 says "herein granted": Congress has only the powers the Constitution gives it, unlike a state legislature, which may pass any law its own constitution does not forbid. But no list can name every means. So Clause 18 adds the power "To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers." A national bank, for example, is not listed, but in McCulloch v. Maryland the Court held it was a proper means of carrying out the taxing, borrowing and spending powers. Anti-Federalists feared exactly that reading (Brutus); Madison defended the clause in Federalist No. 44.
Key idea
Article I creates Congress, sets the makeup of the House and Senate, lists Congress's enumerated powers in Section 8 (ending with the Necessary and Proper Clause), and limits Congress in Section 9 and the states in Section 10.
Worked example: Find the section
Where in Article I is the rule that no person may be punished by an ex post facto law passed by Congress?
- Is it a power, or a limit? A limit.
- Limits on Congress are in Section 9; limits on the states are in Section 10.
Answer: Article I, Section 9 (and Section 10 for the states).
Worked example: Enumerated or implied?
Congress creates the Federal Reserve to manage the nation's money. Section 8 does not mention central banks. Where does the power come from?
- Section 8 lists coining money, regulating its value, and borrowing.
- A central bank is a means of carrying out those listed powers.
- Means not listed come through the Necessary and Proper Clause.
Answer: An implied power, through the Necessary and Proper Clause, tied to the money and borrowing powers.
Common mistake
Thinking Article I lists every single thing Congress may do. Section 8 lists the enumerated powers; the Necessary and Proper Clause adds the means to carry them out, which is why Congress can create agencies, banks and crimes that are not named. Check: an unlisted law is valid if it is a reasonable means to a listed end.