# US Constitution Article 1 says what?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [November 15, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957 "2011-11-15T00:48:34Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/1 "2011-11-15T00:48:34Z")
Ok, I Googled for any commentary on this, but I did not find this specific statement addressed. If you read Article 1 Section 2(2) about who can be a Representative or Section 3(2) who can be a US Senator, it says “…and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.” Huh? Is it actually saying our reps should NOT be from the place they represent? What do the SDopers have to say about this?
FYI: At best, the World Book encyclopedia (a what?) offers this statement “Most representatives live in not only in the state but in the district from which they are chosen.” This statement from the World Book at least is understandable and might imply for remote areas of the country, the reps of those districts may not be native. However, the US Constitution sounds more definite where they CANNOT be from said district (or state).
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/2 "2011-11-15T00:51:25Z")
Hint: The sentence begins with “No person. . .”
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### Author:  [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/3 "2011-11-15T00:54:14Z")
The full text of that clause is “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.”
This is why we teach kids not to use double negatives. No person shall be a representative who shall not…" means “only a person shall be a representative who shall…”
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/4 "2011-11-15T00:55:36Z")
The whole thing is one entire sentence, written in a somewhat confusingly double-negative manner. But it’s perfectly obvious if you read it in its entirety.
> [@](#):
>
> **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.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/5 "2011-11-15T01:00:46Z")
You say it is obvious, but it is not so obvious. If I say “It is not not cold, and I want hot chocolate.” Do you boldly assume the “not not” acts on both parts of this statement? Or, do you treat each N-V indivudally? In the full citation, this is a compound sentence, Since when do you communte the first subject (no person) to the second independent clause?
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### Author:  [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/6 "2011-11-15T01:03:04Z")
Look, do you really think you’re the first person in more than 200 years to _really read_ the Constitution?
No person shall be a representative … who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state. It’s perfectly clear.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/7 "2011-11-15T01:05:35Z")
Also, why would the World Book say “most” come from the State and district they serve? Most? Is my WAG correct for sparse parts of the country? While I realize today things are go jerrymandered, but in simpler times, could there have been situations in remote areas where no one wanted to be a politician?
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/8 "2011-11-15T01:07:44Z")
Garfield226, I’m just glad our founders did not enjoy phrasing things in the negative! 😉
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/9 "2011-11-15T01:08:45Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> Also, why would the World Book say “most” come from the State and district they serve? Most? Is my WAG correct for sparse parts of the country? While I realize today things are go jerrymandered, but in simpler times, could there have been situations in remote areas where no one wanted to be a politician?
Some states have elected Representatives at-large, in which case there are no districts as such (I think one or two may still do it.)
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/10 "2011-11-15T01:09:34Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> Also, why would the World Book say “most” come from the State and district they serve?
Because some come from the state they serve but not the district.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/11 "2011-11-15T01:11:15Z")
Hey, maybe that explains why some argue the income tax is illegal! “Thou shalt not payeth no taxes…” 😃
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### Author:  [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/12 "2011-11-15T01:14:40Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> You say it is obvious, but it is not so obvious. If I say “It is not not cold, and I want hot chocolate.” Do you boldly assume the “not not” acts on both parts of this statement? Or, do you treat each N-V indivudally? In the full citation, this is a compound sentence, Since when do you communte the first subject (no person) to the second independent clause?
But your sentence has two independent clauses. The Constitution’s sentence has two dependent clauses. The “who” in the second clause has to refer back to someone and it’s clear it refers back to “No person”.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/13 "2011-11-15T01:23:19Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#):
>
> Because some come from the state they serve but not the district.
Interesting. Obviously, this is something I’ve always taken this for granted. But, maybe in the Western states, this is a common practice? Then again, being modern day-centric, a young nation had no need to think of districts, did they?
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### Author:  [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/14 "2011-11-15T01:24:59Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> Also, why would the World Book say “most” come from the State and district they serve? Most? Is my WAG correct for sparse parts of the country? While I realize today things are go jerrymandered, but in simpler times, could there have been situations in remote areas where no one wanted to be a politician?
It has nothing to do with gerrymandering. You are reading both the Constitution _and_ your World Book article incorrectly.
The Constitution says this:
> [@](#):
>
> No Person shall be a Representative … who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
This means that, in order to be elected to the House of Representatives, at the time of the election you _must_ be an inhabitant of the state where you are elected.
Note that the Constitution says nothing about districts. It requires only that you live in the particular state that you represent. It does not say that you have to live in any particular district within that state.
Your quote from the encyclopedia says this:
> [@](#):
>
> Most representatives live in not only in the state but in the district from which they are chosen.
What this article is saying is that most representatives live both in the state from which they were elected (as required by the Constitution) and _also_ in the district from which they were elected (not required by the Constitution).
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### Author:  [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/15 "2011-11-15T01:26:10Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> You say it is obvious, but it is not so obvious. If I say “It is not not cold, and I want hot chocolate.”
It’s a bit trickier and also a bit less tricky than this since each of the negatives is in a separate clause, so in the constitution, there’s not really much doubt as to what each negative refers to. “No person” and “who shall not have attained” are clear enough. I.e., the intersection of the set of people who do not live in state _x_ and the set of people who can be representatives of state _x_ is the empty set. “It is not not cold” is different since you are doubly negating the same word.
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### Author:  [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/16 "2011-11-15T01:34:06Z")
Mhendo, I agree. I am reading into it.
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### Author:  [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/17 "2011-11-15T01:42:25Z")
> [@Jinx](#):
>
> Interesting. Obviously, this is something I’ve always taken this for granted. But, maybe in the Western states, this is a common practice? Then again, being modern day-centric, a young nation had no need to think of districts, did they?
Wouldn’t the younger America of the late 18th century have more need of districts and other smaller-than-state geographical divisions? Travel was more time-consuming back then, so it would be harder to go from one end of the state to the other than it is today. That’s my thought anyway
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/18 "2011-11-15T01:58:45Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> Some states have elected Representatives at-large, in which case there are no districts as such (I think one or two may still do it.)
Nope. Someone responded to a post I made about at-large House elections with the cite to the USC where every state except those with one Representative must use a district system.
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### Author:  [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/19 "2011-11-15T03:09:00Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> Some states have elected Representatives at-large, in which case there are no districts as such (I think one or two may still do it.)
No. No state has a Representative at-large.
> [@](#):
>
> **What is a Representative?**
>
> ```
> Also referred to as a congressman or congresswoman, each representative is elected to a two-year term **serving the people of a specific congressional district**. Among other duties, representatives introduce bills and resolutions, offer amendments and serve on committees. The number of representatives with full voting rights is 435, a number set by Public Law 62-5 on August 8, 1911, and in effect since 1913. The number of representatives per state is proportionate to population.
>
> [Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution](http://lcweb2.loc.gov/const/const.html) provides for both the minimum and maximum sizes for the House of Representatives. Currently, there are five delegates representing the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. A resident commissioner represents Puerto Rico. The delegates and resident commissioner possess the same powers as other members of the House, except that they may not vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives.
>
> ```
>
> To be elected, a representative must be at least 25 years old, a United States citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state he or she represents.
(Bolding mine.) [The House Explained | house.gov](http://www.house.gov/content/learn/)
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### Author:  [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-constitution-article-1-says-what/602957/20 "2011-11-15T04:14:10Z")
> [@Duckster](#):
>
> No. No state has a Representative at-large.
> (Bolding mine.) [The House Explained | house.gov](http://www.house.gov/content/learn/)
Not quite true either. As **Saint Cad** notes, states must be districted. However, the representatives of states whose population does not entitle them to two or more House members re termed "at large’ even on the House’s own site, as seen at your link: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, both Dakotas, Vermont, and Wyoming all have “at large” representatives whose district is coextensive with the state boundaries. [Representatives | house.gov](http://www.house.gov/representatives/)