And we’re off! With the Preamble journaled, I’m digging into the first of seven articles.
Article 1, Section 1 is pretty straightforward.
It tells us to whom the Constitution has given the power to make laws.
Even though it’s a short statement, a quick puzzle and fillable infographic helped me think through the basic structure of the U.S. Congress before diving into the nuts and bolts of how, when, and where the legislative branch does its work.
If you’d like to journal this printable, you’ll find it here.
Things will quickly become more complicated as we move forward. I’ve already made two pages for the first paragraph of Section 2, and there are five paragraphs in that section alone! Additionally, a part of the third paragraph was changed by the 13th and 14th amendments. I’m not sure how I’ll journal that yet.
Before I go, I want to mention a few resources I’m using so far.
For the text of the Constitution, I’m looking at the versions provided by the National Constitution Center and the National Archives.
Alongside these, I’m reading the handwritten original thanks to high-resolution images from the National Archives.
The Office of the Secretary of the Senate created an annotated copy of the Constitution in 1994, which I’m finding helpful, as well as the Common Interpretation notes from the National Archives.
For help with plain word meanings, I mostly use the online dictionary from Merriam-Webster.
As I find additional resources, I’ll be sure to mention them!
See you back here soon with Section 1, Article 2, Paragraph 1. The House of Representatives!