Article VI makes the Constitution, federal laws made under it, and treaties "the supreme Law of the Land," binding on every judge in every state. It honors the debts of the old Confederation, requires every legislator, executive, and judge, federal and state, to swear an oath to the Constitution, and flatly bans religious tests for any federal office.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
The new government kept the Revolutionary War debts, a promise that made the United States creditworthy from day one. The Supremacy Clause is the article's engine: the Constitution and valid federal laws and treaties override conflicting state law, and state judges must follow them. Note the qualifier "in Pursuance thereof": only laws consistent with the Constitution are supreme. Every officeholder in America swears loyalty to the Constitution itself, and no religious test may ever be required for federal office.
