Established in 1789, the federal government of the United States is the national government of the nation, a republic in North America, consisting of 50 states, one district, Washington, D.C., and several territories. It is composed of three distinct branches known as legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the federal courts, respectively. In general, Article I of the Constitution gives Congress its powers and limits. Congress is the legislative branch of the government, meaning that they are responsible for law making for the United States. The article also creates the two sections of Congress, which is called a bicameral legislature. In section 1 of Article 1, it explains that only Congress has the power to make …show more content…
It explains that elections will take place every two years to determine the members of the House of Representatives. Furthermore, each state must allow anyone who is legally eligible to vote in state elections also to vote for US Representatives. Section 2 also explains the requirements for an individual to be a member of the House of Representatives. Firstly, it requires that every member must be minimum 25 years old, a citizen of the US for at least seven years, and to live in the state that they wish to represent in Congress. To add on, section 2 also establishes that representation in the House is apportioned on the basis of population; that is, the more populous the state, the more seats it gets in the House. In 1789, this meant that Virginia got ten seats, Massachusetts got eight, while Rhode Island and Delaware got just one each. It was also required that a census should be taken every ten years in order to count the population in each state to ensure that each state's representation in Congress remains proportional to its population, even as state populations change over