Illinois
Conservative Beacon
“Any act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
U.S. Supreme Court - 1803
Conservative Beacon
“Any act of the legislature repugnant to the Constitution is void.”
U.S. Supreme Court - 1803
| Notes on "Enumerated Powers" Article I, Section 8 |
The founding fathers understood the propensity of those with power to strive to
accumulate even more. Their study of history had convinced them that unless
there were restraints placed on the extent of power, the new federal government
might be tempted to expand its powers to the point of tyranny pushing aside the
historical sovereignty of individual state governments. They attempted to deal
with this problem by framing a Constitution that limited the powers of government
to those specifically granted to it by the states. These are known as the
“enumerated powers” and are found for the most part in Article I, Section 8.
Early writers on the functions of the federal government like James Madison and
Thomas Jefferson often referred to these “enumerated powers” in their
correspondences and other writings. The powers granted to Congress by Section
Eight fall into two categories. The power to tax and the power to make law.
The power to tax is found in clause one of Section 8 and the power to make law is
found in clause eighteen. The sixteen clauses between the first and last specifies
the purposes for which Congress is authorized to lay taxes and make laws. The
prohibition on Congress for making laws or levying taxes for purposes other than
those specified is spelled out in the Tenth Amendment reserving all other powers
to the states or to the people.
The clause introducing the powers of Congress, divides them into two categories,
those intended to provide for the “common defense” and those intended for the
“general welfare”. Those relating to war, Army, Navy, Militia, piracy, insurrection
and rebellion have to do with the common defense. The remaining eight have to
do with providing for the general welfare.
A popular view of the Constitution sees the general terms of “common defense”
and “general welfare” as bestowing special powers on Congress independent of
the other clauses in Section 8 and the balance of the Constitution. Other patriotic
students of the Constitution, including Jefferson and Madison, as well as more
recent scholars like Justice Clarence Thomas have pointed out the absurdity of
such a view. Their argument is that such a view would make the very existence of
a Constitution redundant since the power to make any law or lay any tax, for
whatever purpose could be included in these two phrases.
It should also be noted that the Tenth Amendment would be without meaning or
purpose if all powers were included in the power of Congress to make any law it
deemed necessary to promote the general welfare. What’s more, such
construction would render a written constitution useless since the real constitution
would be contained in the collective laws of the nation.
Notes on specific clauses and phrases in Section 8, will be forthcoming in the
near future.
accumulate even more. Their study of history had convinced them that unless
there were restraints placed on the extent of power, the new federal government
might be tempted to expand its powers to the point of tyranny pushing aside the
historical sovereignty of individual state governments. They attempted to deal
with this problem by framing a Constitution that limited the powers of government
to those specifically granted to it by the states. These are known as the
“enumerated powers” and are found for the most part in Article I, Section 8.
Early writers on the functions of the federal government like James Madison and
Thomas Jefferson often referred to these “enumerated powers” in their
correspondences and other writings. The powers granted to Congress by Section
Eight fall into two categories. The power to tax and the power to make law.
The power to tax is found in clause one of Section 8 and the power to make law is
found in clause eighteen. The sixteen clauses between the first and last specifies
the purposes for which Congress is authorized to lay taxes and make laws. The
prohibition on Congress for making laws or levying taxes for purposes other than
those specified is spelled out in the Tenth Amendment reserving all other powers
to the states or to the people.
The clause introducing the powers of Congress, divides them into two categories,
those intended to provide for the “common defense” and those intended for the
“general welfare”. Those relating to war, Army, Navy, Militia, piracy, insurrection
and rebellion have to do with the common defense. The remaining eight have to
do with providing for the general welfare.
A popular view of the Constitution sees the general terms of “common defense”
and “general welfare” as bestowing special powers on Congress independent of
the other clauses in Section 8 and the balance of the Constitution. Other patriotic
students of the Constitution, including Jefferson and Madison, as well as more
recent scholars like Justice Clarence Thomas have pointed out the absurdity of
such a view. Their argument is that such a view would make the very existence of
a Constitution redundant since the power to make any law or lay any tax, for
whatever purpose could be included in these two phrases.
It should also be noted that the Tenth Amendment would be without meaning or
purpose if all powers were included in the power of Congress to make any law it
deemed necessary to promote the general welfare. What’s more, such
construction would render a written constitution useless since the real constitution
would be contained in the collective laws of the nation.
Notes on specific clauses and phrases in Section 8, will be forthcoming in the
near future.
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