Article 6

 

Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution is one of the harder articles for most people to understand.  The U.S. Constitution in general happens to give most people a relatively hard time when they are trying to understand it.  I will discuss Article 6 in detail and hopefully shed some insight on this confusing bit on information. 

To summarize Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution, it states that the United States Constitution is above all else, the supreme law of the land.  It also states that the the United States Constitution as well as the laws and treaties made under the Constitution, states that it forbids a religious test of any kind to be required to hold a government position for the United States.  The Constitution also states that any debts that have been incurred, since the Articles of Confederation, under the Constitution will be held responsible by the United States. 

Article 6

The actual Article 6 of the U.S. Constitution goes as follows:

" All debts contracted and engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several states, shall be bound by oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." 

Breaking Down Article 6

It is really important when breaking down Article 6, that a person remember to make sure to go through each part of Article 6 and discuss it to understand what they are saying. 

Debts:

The first part of Article 6 discusses debts.  Essentially what Article 6 is stating is that any debts that were incurred before the United States Constitution, while it was being made or after it was already made , would remain valid and the United States would end up making good on those debts no matter what.  It was really important for the United States to show everyone how trustworthy and honest they could be and that they would pay back all debts that they incurred. While the United States was under the Articles of Confederation they had promised that they would make good on all debts and they made sure to bring that along for the United States Constitution as well. 

Supremacy:

Article 6 also makes sure to note that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land. This means that the Constitution, the laws under it and the treaties made because of it are all made supreme by the Constitution.  This means that the state courts as well as the stat Constitutions are all bound by the federal law as well as the federal Constitution and that they all of the are subordinate to the federal law. 

It was important to make sure that the United States had a document stating what the federal laws were and that they were laws that people would always be held accountable for.  These laws and what was said in the United States Constitution were based upon the fact that something needed to be put into place that would make sure that people would end up following some rules so that there would be order throughout the United States and not just chaos.  Every body of people need something to ensure that there is order amongst the people and amongst the government.  However, the United States Constitution was good about making sure that the the government did not over run the people and instead would be there to protect the people and to argue for them as well.

Oaths:

Essentially this part of the Article 6 states that all executive officers, the federal and state judicial systems and other are bound by oath to ensure that the United States Constitution is being supported at all times.  This is a really important safety clause of sorts. This essentially binds all of those in the state and federal judicial offices and ensures that they must at all times ensure to always support the United States Constitution and they are bound by it. 

 

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