Introduction

The Fourth Article is an important part of the Constitution. It talks about the return of slaves when they escape, the return of offenders to the law to the state they committed the crime in, and how to add states to the country.





Summary of Article IV

This article outlines the duties states have to each other, as well as those the federal government has to the states. Article Four also provides for the admission of new states and the changing of state boundaries.

And, though it was eliminated from the Constitution by the Thirteenth Amendment, it also talkes about slavery. If a slave rans away to a northern state where there was no slavery, the slave had to be returned to its owner.