f their country from foreign invasion. John Jay, one of the three writers of “The Federalist Papers” and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, even said that when a country wanted to gain something, it would engage itself in a war. Most representatives in the Constitutional Convention had realized that when the United States broke up, it would easily become a sacrifice to its neighboring and enemy states. They saw that other countries still threatened the security of the United States. The Great Britain was unwilling to secede from America and kept military bases in the Northwest boundary of the United States. At the same time, France blockaded some important river mouths so that it could monopolize the market, and Spain also tried to blockade the Mississippi River. The European powers did not want the United States to develop into a powerful nation, or to share their market, neither in the United States itself nor abroad. The framers of the U.S. Constitution fully realized that a strong navy and land force could become not only a tool to protect the interests of the United States, but also a tool to force other countries to open their markets. A strong army would definitely make the European countries respect their country.
Apart from the foreign troubles, the leaders of the United States had also seen the serious influences of clashes between different classes. They believed that in time of trouble, a strong army would be decisive. Of course, they would not ignore the danger of such domestic rebellions as Shays’ Rebellion. When talking about the danger of rebellions, James Madison said, “I have noticed a kind of unhappy people scattered in some states. They degrade under the human standard when the political situation remains steady; but when the society is in chaos, they would provide their fellow people with a great force.” (Smith 1986:194) So the rulers of the country needed a strong army to suppress the revolt of these “unhappy people”, and to maintain a stable domestic political situation.
The U.S. Constitution grants so many specific powers to the Federal Government, at the same time, lists a rather large number of things that the Federal Government is not allowed to do. Evidently, the framers were afraid that too strong a central government would easily bring about autocracy. In order to restrict the authority of the central government, the framers wanted to make it clear in the Constitution that certain powers were emphatically denied to the Federal Government. Restrictions of the powers of the Federal Government are listed below:
- No exercise of powers not delegated to it by the Constitution.
- No payment from the Treasury except under appropriations made by law.
- All duties and excises must be uniform throughout the United States.
- No tax or duty to be laid on articles exported from any state.
- No appointment of a senator or representative to any civil office which was created while he was a member of Congress or for which the amount of compensation was increased during that period.
- No preferences to the ports of one state over another in regulation or tax collection.
- No titles of nobility to be granted by the U.S. government, or permitted to be granted to government officials by foreign states.
- No bill of attainder or ex post facto law to be passed.
When the Constitution granted the Federal Government certain powers, the framers also considered reducing the power of the state governments, so that the central government could force the states to take unified steps if necessary. In Article I, Section 10, the Constitution stipulates, “No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment or debts….No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws…. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep tr