MADISONCENTER FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
Support our mission

An invitation to understand

The Constitution,
connected.

Start with a question. Follow a connection.
Discover the ideas that hold a republic together.

YOUR DOCUMENT. YOUR STARTING POINT.

There’s no right place to begin.
Choose something you’re curious about.
We’ll help you take the next step.

Begin with “We the People”
Save your learning

The constitutional text

Article I · Section 2

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.

No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.

[Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.]* The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.

The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

Sign in to save progress
202 elements · 219 connections · One constitutional systemOpen the reader
Go at your own pace

You don’t have to understand everything at once. One connection is a good beginning.

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER

Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 — initial allocation

The first allocation of House seats

historical provision
and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

What it means

This list assigns temporary numbers of representatives to the thirteen founding states before the required enumeration. It is a transitional allocation, not the rule governing today’s House.

Historical setting

A new government needed a legislature before it could conduct its first census. The convention therefore supplied an initial distribution so that representation and the new institutions could begin operating.

What it does

The list demonstrates how a constitution can include both lasting principles and provisions that complete their work once. Later apportionments follow the operative population rules rather than treating these state numbers as entrenched entitlements.

Debate & interpretation

Initial allocations matter because the first lawmakers help shape institutions and implement the system. A temporary compromise can therefore influence later practice even after its own numerical directions cease to govern.

A common misreading

This passage does not give Virginia a permanent ten seats or restrict representation to the original thirteen states.

Think it through

Why is a transition rule necessary when a permanent process depends on work that the new government has not yet performed?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

Sign in to save