1700s Legalese

This text isn't exactly a romantic poem, Shmoopers. Organization is the key word to keep in mind when reading legal documents from early American history (that includes the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence). To keep the government charter as organized as possible, the drafters of the Articles of Confederation divided the text into Articles with subsidiary clauses.

Clauses function sort of like paragraphs: they express one idea about what the government can or can't do. They are usually written as single sentences. For a good example, check out Article 5, clause 4. "In determining questions in the United States in Congress assembled, each State shall have one vote." (5.4). Remember: one sentence/clause equals one rule.

The bad news is that a bunch of the clauses in the Articles run much longer than this one. Take a look, if you dare, at 9.3. This clause lays out the procedure for resolving a legal dispute between states. The one sentence, one rule maxim of legal writing means that every exception, loophole, and clarification for a rule has to be covered in the clause.

That means packing a lot of detail in a single sentence, which translates to a lot of commas, colons, and semicolons. This kind of exhaustive writing is not what you would find in a popular novel…unless you're talking about Infinite Jest.

This style is similar to how modern legislation is drafted; legal documents in today's Congress, just like in the Second Continental Congress, are usually written and amended by committee (remember, John Dickinson's first draft ended up being heavily revised). Don't look for the individual voice of a speechwriter or the flowery phrases of a Thomas Jefferson in this text.