Constitution thoughts, part 1

In 2008 I was given a pocket sized copy of the Constitution. I know I read parts of it during High School, but I believe this is the first time I have read the whole thing. I am going to post some of my thoughts and questions about what I read. If you have any thoughts on this, please add them. I wrote down a lot of information so I am going to split this up into four parts. I am going to post them in reverse order so you can start at the top and read all the way through.

A member of the House of Representatives must be at least 25 years old and a member of the Senate must be at least 30 years old. Article one uses this phrase when giving the eligibility requirements: “Who shall not when elected be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.” Does this mean they must live in DC?

I have wondered before about how the first election of Senators was performed since 1/3 of them are expected to face an election every two years. Apparently they divided them up as Section 3, Paragraph 2 reads: “Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth year.”

In Section 6, paragraph 2, it reads: “No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.”

I’m not exactly sure what this means. I think it is saying if a new office is created while you are a Congressman then you cannot accept the new position. Emoluments are payments for political leaders, so I guess a Congressman can’t take on a position where the pay has risen while they were in office. I think the last part is saying that someone who holds another government position can’t also be a Congressman at the same time.