In 1824 Gibbons v. Ogden, the supreme court vastly expanded the powers of congress through a broad interpretation of a single clause in the constitution. The court ruled that under Article I, section 8, congress had powers to regulate any aspect of commerce that crossed state lines, including transportation. As our government grew, so too did it's reach of regulation into all areas of commerce between states and between nations. Recent U.S. Supreme courts have attempted to define limits on the Congress's power to regulate commerce among the several states. Their arguments boiled down to what the original meaning of "commerce" in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3.
[The Congress shall have Power] To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
The definition of the term "commerce" can vary from a very narrow meaning limited to that of trade or the exchange of goods. Or it can have a very broad meaning to include any gainful activity. The limited meaning would exclude agriculture, manufacturing and shipping or distribution. Constitutional scholars look to many places to find the definition of commerce. First there are contemporary dictionaries like the 1785 edition of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language.
commerce: 1. Intercourse; exchange of one thing for another; interchange of any thing; trade;
traffick: 1. The practice of making any piece of workmanship. 2. Any thing made by art.
Agriculture: 1. The art of cultivating the ground; tillage; husbandry, as distinct from pasturage.
Second there is the Constitutional Convention where, the term "commerce" appeared thirty-four times in the speeches. Eight of these were unambiguous references to trade with other nations while none of them referenced any gainful activity. And finally , there are the Federalist papers, and the ratification conventions. These too point to a very narrow definition of commerce as trade between nations.
But alas, we need to look no further than to the words of Thomas Jefferson, life long friend of James Madison who proposed the commerce clause in 1787. In his first state of the union address where Jefferson defined for us the meaning of the commerce clause. In his address, first he distinctly separates commerce from agriculture, manufacturing and navigation when refers to "Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation [as] the 4 pillars of our prosperity". Second he explains that the constitution is a limit on government power and that these four pillars will thrive most when left "free to individual enterprise". Finally, he defined that that regulation was limited to the power of Congress to occasional interventions ("seasonably interposed") to "protect from casual embarrassment" or irregularities in commerce. And if there is any question, Thomas Jefferson then restated his aim that the goal was to remove difficulties "under which our carrying trade will soon be placed". Thus in Jefferson's mind there seems to be no question that the term "commerce" is unambiguously limited to trade between two nations.
"Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the 4 pillars of our prosperity, are then most thriving when left most free to individual enterprise. Protection from casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be seasonably interposed. If in the course of your observations or inquiries they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance they will occupy your attention. We can not, indeed, but all feel an anxious solicitude for the difficulties under which our carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be relieved, otherwise than by time, is a subject of important consideration."http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29443
https://www.bu.edu/rbarnett/Original.htm
http://www.stateoftheunionhistory.com/2015/07/1824-james-monroe-gibbons-v-ogden.html?q=commerce+clause
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Salem_shipping_colonial_color.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment