Omar Bennett
The U.S. Constitution, first transcribed by Jacob Shallus, is the highest law of the land. It establishes a federal government with three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch, or Congress, is responsible for proposing amendments to the Constitution and passing laws necessary for executing its powers. One of the most important provisions in the Constitution is the Necessary and Proper Clause, which grants Congress broad authority to determine what is necessary for implementing federal powers. The 14th Amendment, passed in 1868, extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It also granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. The Constitution's preamble sets the stage for the document, outlining the intentions of its framers and the purpose of establishing a more perfect union, justice, domestic tranquility, common defence, general welfare, and securing liberty.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| The Necessary and Proper Clause | Gives Congress broad powers to make laws that are necessary and proper for executing federal powers |
| Allows Congress to establish a national bank, make paper money legal tender, and create federal departments, offices, and officers | |
| Also known as the Sweeping Clause, Elastic Clause, Basket Clause, or Coefficient Clause | |
| 14th Amendment | Extends liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people |
| Grants citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" | |
| States that "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" | |
| Preamble | Sets the stage for the Constitution and communicates the intentions of the framers and the purpose of the document |
| Is not the law itself and does not define government powers or individual rights | |
| Amendments | Can be proposed by Congress or by a Convention called by Congress, and must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures or Conventions |
| No Amendment can affect the first and fourth clauses of Article I, Section 9, and no state can be deprived of equal suffrage in the Senate without its consent | |
| Impeachment | Judgment in cases of impeachment extends to removal from office and disqualification from holding future offices, but does not exempt the convicted party from indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment according to law |
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What You'll Learn
The Necessary and Proper Clause
> "The Congress shall have Power... To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."
This clause expressly confers incidental powers upon Congress, and no other clause in the Constitution does so by itself. The Necessary and Proper Clause was not a primary focus of debate at the Constitutional Convention, but its meaning quickly became a major issue in the debates over the ratification of the Constitution. Anti-Federalists expressed concern that the clause would grant the federal government boundless power, while Federalists argued that the clause would permit only the execution of powers granted by the Constitution. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison supported the latter interpretation, with Madison arguing that without the clause, the constitution would be a "dead letter".
The first practical example of the contentious interpretation of the clause came in 1791, when Hamilton used it to defend the constitutionality of the new First Bank of the United States. Madison argued that Congress lacked the constitutional authority to charter a bank, but Hamilton countered that the bank was reasonably related to constitutional powers, and the clause applied to activities reasonably related to constitutional powers, not only those necessary to carry them out.
The landmark Supreme Court case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) ruled that the clause grants implied powers to Congress in addition to its enumerated powers. In this case, the Court ruled against Maryland, which had attempted to impede the operations of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a prohibitive tax on out-of-state banks. Chief Justice John Marshall, a longtime Federalist ally of Hamilton, wrote that the Constitution conferred upon Congress an implied power to establish a federal bank under the Necessary and Proper Clause so that Congress could fulfill its express taxing and spending powers. This case reaffirmed Hamilton's view that legislation reasonably related to express powers was constitutional.
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The 14th Amendment
A significant provision of the 14th Amendment was to grant citizenship to "All persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby extending citizenship to formerly enslaved people. This amendment also ensured that no person could be deprived of their life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Furthermore, it stated that no state could make or enforce any law that would abridge the privileges or immunities of US citizens.
Another key aspect of the 14th Amendment is the "equal protection of the laws" clause, which has been central to numerous landmark cases, including Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, and Bush v. Gore. This clause ensures that all citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law, regardless of race, gender, or other characteristics.
While the 14th Amendment was intended to protect the rights of formerly enslaved people and Black citizens, it did not succeed in its goals during the Reconstruction era. Citizens, however, continued to fight for their rights, and their efforts laid the groundwork for change in the 20th century.
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Civil Rights
The original US Constitution, written in 1787, did not include a bill of rights. The Anti-Federalists, who were afraid of a strong centralized government, refused to support the Constitution without one. The Federalists, on the other hand, opposed including a bill of rights on the grounds that it was unnecessary. The Constitution's framers eventually heeded Thomas Jefferson, who argued that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as the Bill of Rights, were added to limit government power and protect individual liberties. These include the right to free speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, due process, and trial by jury. The Bill of Rights also includes protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
The Fourteenth Amendment, passed in 1868, further extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people. It also granted citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," thereby granting citizenship to formerly enslaved people. The Fourteenth Amendment addresses many aspects of citizenship and the rights of citizens, including the commonly litigated phrase "equal protection of the laws." This phrase has been central to landmark cases such as Brown v. Board of Education (racial discrimination) and Roe v. Wade (reproductive rights).
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Congress's powers
The US Constitution grants Congress significant powers, including a crucial role in national defence and the exclusive power to declare war, raise and maintain armed forces, and make rules for the military. This power of the purse is a primary check on the executive branch. Congress also has the power to propose amendments to the Constitution, which become valid when ratified by three-fourths of state legislatures or conventions.
Article I of the Constitution outlines most of Congress's powers, including the ability to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, and to borrow money on the credit of the US. Congress can also regulate commerce with foreign nations and Native American tribes, establish uniform rules of naturalization and bankruptcy laws, coin money, and fix standards of weights and measures.
Congress can also promote the progress of science and the arts by securing exclusive rights for authors and inventors for limited times, define and punish piracies and felonies on the high seas, and make rules concerning captures on land and water. It can raise and support armies, exercise exclusive legislation over the District that is the seat of the US government, and make laws necessary for executing its powers.
Congress also has the power to choose the President or Vice President if no one receives a majority of Electoral College votes, and the authority to enact legislation to enforce the rights of all citizens, including voting rights, due process, and equal protection under the law.
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The Sweeping Clause
The "Sweeping Clause", as it was historically known, is a clause in Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, which is more commonly referred to today as the "Necessary and Proper Clause".
The clause gives Congress the power to:
> [...] make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution [...] the other federal powers granted by the Constitution.
This clause is significant because it gives Congress the authority to use all means necessary and proper for executing their express powers. This includes not only those powers that are expressly listed, but also any implied or incidental powers that are conducive to the beneficial exercise of an enumerated power. For example, in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the Court assumed that Congress could use the Necessary and Proper Clause to implement and extend the substantive terms of a treaty, thus "carrying into execution" the treaty power.
The Necessary and Proper Clause was included in the Constitution to address the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, which had limited federal power to only those powers expressly delegated to the United States. By including this clause, the Framers intended to make clear that Congress's power encompassed the implied power to use all appropriate means required to carry out its duties.
Some constitutional scholars have questioned how far this clause extends. For instance, in NFIB v. Sebelius (2012), the Court debated whether a law could ever fail to be "proper" if it did not involve direct federal regulation of state governments or state officials.
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Frequently asked questions
The Necessary and Proper Clause, also known as the Sweeping Clause, gives Congress the authority to use all means necessary and proper for executing the powers listed in the Constitution.
Passed in 1868, the 14th Amendment extended liberties and rights granted by the Bill of Rights to formerly enslaved people, granting them citizenship.
The Preamble is an introduction to the U.S. Constitution, communicating the intentions of its framers and the purpose of the document.
