 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 prefe