The U.S. Constitution 1

These study questions are part of the study over The Founding Documents of The United States of America. For a general introduction to this study you can go HERE. If you’d like to learn more about Study The Great Books, or to find another text to study, you can go HERE.

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find these in the Text and Note them in the Margins)

Justice, Peace, Freedom

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What were the stated purposes as to why the United States Constitution was ordained and established?

2. What are the names of the two houses, “vested” with legislative power, which together form the United States Congress?

3. How long is a term in the House of Representatives?

4. What are the stated requirements for those who would seek to be elected into the House of Representatives?

5. What rule governs the number of Representatives any given state may have?

6. What “sole Power” belongs to the House of Representatives?

7. How many Senators is each state allowed?

8. How long is a term in the Senate?

9. What are the stated requirements for those who would seek to be elected into the Senate?

10. Who is the “President of the Senate” and when can that person vote?

11. What “sole Power” belongs to the Senate?

12. What portion of the Senate must rule in favor of an Impeachment in order for a Federal Officer to be removed from his or her office?

13. What is the minimum number of times per year which Congress must assemble?

14. What percentage of the members of the House and Senate must be present in order for each to conduct business?

15. How can a member of the House or Senate be expelled by their fellow Representatives or Senators?

16. The record of “Yeas and Nays” in a meeting of either house only has to be officially recorded in the Journal of Proceedings if enough members demand it. How many members must demand it in order for those to be officially recorded?

17. How do Senators and Representatives receive financial compensation for their service?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. The Constitution, we are told, was written “in Order to form a more perfect Union” and to establish various desirable outcomes. Why might a written Constitution be helpful (or maybe even essential) in pursuing the goal of “a more perfect Union?”

2. Why might the terms for members of the House of Representatives be only one third of the length of the term granted to Senators?

3. In the case of both Representatives and Senators, why might it be required that they be an “inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen?”

4. At the time of the composition of the United States Constitution, why might “Indians” have not been counted when it came to the number of Representatives permissible in a given state?

5. Why might the Constitution have stipulated both that “each state shall have at Least one Representative” but, also, no more than one “for every thirty Thousand” free persons in their state? Why are each of these rules important, respectively?

6. Why might the original group of elected Senators have been “divided as equally as possible into three classes…so that one third may be chosen every second year?” In other words, why not simply have all senatorial elections always take place at the same time?

7. How are the requirements for being a Senator more stringent than those for being a Representative? What might account for the decision to make the requirements different between the two roles?

8. Why would the Vice President’s role as “President of the Senate” be very important at times?

9. The House of Representatives and the Senate both have different, but related, “Sole powers” in regard to Impeachment. Explain, in your own words, the responsibilities of these two governing bodies concerning the Impeachment process.

10. Why might the concept of having a “quorum” be important to the proceedings of the House and the Senate?

11. The Constitution says “Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.” Why might these rules be in place?

12. Senators and Representatives are “privileged from arrest during their attendance at the Session of their respective Houses” except in the cases of “Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace.” Why might this exemption from being arrested, except in the stated cases, be necessary?

13. Currently serving Senators and Representatives are not allowed to “be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during” their term. Why might this prohibition have been put in place?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. In the American Revolution the slogan “no taxation without representation” popularly described the American sentiment that there should be a reciprocal relationship between tax payers and the government to whom they pay taxes. The main idea being that those who are taxed should also have a voice in their governance and receive various benefits and protections from their government. How does this concept manifest itself in the U. S. Constitution in what we have read so far? What kinds of benefits do you think tax payers should justly expect from their government? What are some expectations that someone might have (because they are tax payers) which are nevertheless unreasonable? What are some different examples of non-tax payers who might live within the borders of a particular nation? To what extent, if any, do you think non-tax payers should receive benefits or protections from the government? Explain your thoughts carefully.

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Romans 13. What principles of responsibility can we draw out from here between the government and the governed?

2. Consider the Old Testament Scriptures. What do the people of Israel, whom Moses led out of Egypt by God’s mighty power, have for their people that is somewhat like the U.S. Constitution and other early American founding documents?

Constitution Trivia:

• Since 1789, vice presidents have broken 309 ties in the U.S. Senate. John Adams cast the first tie-breaker on July 18, 1789. Kamala Harris holds the record for the most tie-breaking votes with 33, followed by John C. Calhoun with 31. Twelve vice presidents never cast a tie-breaking vote.

• As of 2026 there have only been fifteen cases in all of U.S. history where a member of the United States Senate has been expelled by a two-thirds majority of their peers. Out of these 15 cases, 14 occurred during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy, and only one occurred prior to that time. The last such case occurred in 1862. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, has expelled six total members by the same process, three during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy and three in more recent history (Michael Myers in 1980, James Traficant in 2002, and George Santos in 2023), all three of which were related to Federal fraud charges or convictions.