The Constitutional Limits of Government According to the Constitution's Framers

Abstract

The U.S. Constitution, as understood by the men who wrote it – the Framers – authorized only a limited form of federal government: limited in what it is allowed to do. That power, in turn, can only legitimately come from the People, who created the Federal Government. The said government is merely their creature. The objects on which it may legislate and spend money are strictly limited by its text, most notably Article I of the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment. The so‑called Interstate Commerce, General Welfare, and Necessary and Proper clauses, sometimes invoked in the contemporary news media as giving the Federal Government broad powers, are actually limited in scope and do not give it any broad powers. This is clearly demonstrated by the writings of the men who wrote the Constitution – the Framers, chiefly James Madison and Alexander Hamilton. Their writings, particularly the Federalist Papers, explain what exact objects the Federal Government’s authority is limited to, and why the claims of those who interpret the Constitution as giving the central government sweeping powers are wrong. The Necessary and Proper clause only gives the Congress the power to execute powers already granted, and does not give it any new substantive authority. The General Welfare clause (part of Clause 1 of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution) is a general statement immediately limited and qualified by Clauses 3‑16; and in the Framers’ times, “welfare” meant only exemption from any unusual calamity and enjoyment of the ordinary blessings of society. The Interstate Commerce Clause only authorizes Congress to prevent the states from inhibiting interstate commerce – the free transportation and sale of goods and services across state borders – with barriers such as interstate tolls. Thus, the Federal Government the Framers envisaged – and created with the Constitution – was one of strictly limited, enumerated powers. This article starts from the premise that the men who wrote the Constitution knew it best and are the most credible authority on its genuine meaning. This is confirmed further by the writings of constitutional law scholars and by rulings of the Supreme Court in the Marshall era – rulings which, to this day, greatly influence American jurisprudence, and whose authors looked to the Federalist Papers for the correct interpretation of the Constitution.