Article. VI.
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.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
This is not legal advice. I’m not your lawyer.
You did it! You’re at the end! And what’s lurking there? Three things: an article of “potpourie” things, a quick instruction on how to adopt the document, and then some signatures. I left out the part that says they signed the document on September 17, 1787—conveniently waiting until they could all get the day off for Constitution Day—and lists the names of the representstives of the conference, but it’s there and you can go look if you’re a completist.
Article Six says debts that are already incurred under the old Articles of Confederation will remain and be honored. It says the Constitution is the “Supreme Law of the Land,” and controls over state laws, to the extent of a conflict. And, finally, everybody has to swear an oath of office, but nobody can be required to undergo a religious test. This, one imagins, was supposed to separate church from state, at least a little.
And Article Seven says if nine states ratify the Constitution, that’s plenty to go ahead and get started. That’s about it. It has become more or less moot, now that the document has been ratified.
The other thing we haven’t seen yet is the Amendments. They may be the reason you showed up, I don’t know, but they aren’t part of the original document. They’re bonuses, incorporated later, as we learned back in Article V. So we’ll cover them in Season 2! Coming Soon!