The first half of the Constitution, articles 1, 2, and 3,

discuss the powers of the three branches of the National Government.

The second half of the Constitution, articles 4 through 7,

discuss the relationship between the National Government and the States.

These four articles don't get the attention of the first three,

but that doesn't mean they're any less important.

Let's take a closer look.

First, article 4.

When America won the Revolutionary War,

the former English colonies became free and independent states.

Almost as if they were separate countries.

But when those states later voted to ratify the federal Constitution,

they became part of an indestructible union of states

under a common National Government,

one in which all citizens were granted the same rights.

This seems obvious to us now, but it was new then.

As article 4 affirms, the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges

and immunities of citizens in the several states.

This gets complicated as everything did at the time

when the issue of slavery is raised.

Section 2 of article 4 declares that no person held to labor in one state

escaping into another shall be discharged from such labor,

...