American Government and the Constitution Lecture Two

American Government and the Constitution Lectures: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14

A fun way to learn more about the Constitution is to try to answer this question: which are its greatest provisions, and what inspired those provisions?

In our last Lecture we discussed the Preamble (We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union ...."), and courts have construed it not to have any legally binding effect. The Preamble is merely "window-dressing", and does not establish any rights of the people, or any powers of government. It is a very eloquent introduction to the document.

After the 52 words of the Preamble, what is the most important provision? The winner might be the very next sentence, Article I, Section 1, which states:

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All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

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Only 25 words long, this Section 1 is perhaps the single most important provision in the entire Constitution. It is known as the "Bicameral Clause," because it establishes two chambers of Congress as the federal legislature. It is the result of the "Great Compromise" between the big and small States at the Constitutional Convention. The big states have more power in the House of Representatives, because there are more people in the big States and the number of representatives in the House is based on population. The small states have equal power in the Senate, because every State has exactly two representatives there, no matter how big or small the State is.

Article I

Article I is the first and most important Article in the Constitution, because it establishes and limits the legislative power of the national (federal) government. The "and limits" is often forgotten by the public. The federal government is a government of only limited powers. It can do only what it is allowed to do under its enumerated powers in the Constitution.

Congress cannot pass a law unless the law is authorized by one of the clauses in Article I of the Constitution. For example, Congress cannot establish a local federal police force in anyone's town. Congress does not have that power under the Constitution.

When Congress occasionally passes a law outside of its powers under Article I, then the Supreme Court usually declares the law to be invalid and unenforceable.

Each of the grants of power to Congress under Article I is identified by a separate name, such as the "War Powers Clause" and the "Coinage Clause." Every federal law that is in effect today -- and there are probably hundreds of thousands of them -- is based on one or more of the grants of power to Congress in Article I. There are so many federal laws which has been enacted since 1789 that the Library of Congress says it is impossible to count them all:

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At the reference desk, we are frequently asked to estimate the number of federal laws in force. However, trying to tally this number is nearly impossible.

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But each and every law must be based on a provision in Article I authorizing it, or else the law is unconstitutional. Here are some of the most important provisions in Article I which authorize laws or other congressional action:

Copyright and Patent Clause

Without much discussion, the Framers of the Constitution inserted this clause to protect authors (with copyright) and inventors (with patents):

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To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

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The citation for the above Copyright and Patent Clause is "U.S. Const. Art. I, §8, cl. 1" - which means the United States Constitution at Article I, section 8, clause 1.

In 1787, when the Constitution was written, the word "science" meant generalized learning, such as natural philosophy. The word did not have the connotation of technology or inventions that the word has today. The "Progress of Science" meant new books and other creations of authors; the "useful Arts" meant inventions.

The Patent Act of 1790 provides that a person who has "invented or discovered any useful art, manufacture, engine, machine, or device, or any improvement therein not before known or used" may be awarded a patent.

Necessary and Proper Clause

The Necessary and Proper Clause, unofficially known as the Elastic Clause, has been used to expand the power of the federal (national) government.

Origination Clause

An example of the influence of England on the Constitution is the Origination Clause, which is Article I, Section 7, clause 1:

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All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

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Overriding a Veto

After World War II, in 1946, strikes by unions were ravaging the United States. President Truman had caved into communist Josef Stalin in the post-War negotiations, giving Stalin everything he wanted in Eastern Europe. Many feared communist infiltration of labor unions in the United States, and the devastating work stoppages hurt the economy and alarmed the public.

No year in American history had as many labor strikes, affecting so many industries, as occurred in 1946. A newspaper called the Evansville Courier, for example, observed that a coal strike in 1946 was "the most momentous event in the country's peacetime history."

Historians refer to this as the "Great Strike Wave of 1946," or sometimes late 1945 is also included, because the strikes began almost as soon as World War II ended in August 1945. In 1946, there was a total of 4,985 strikes, which involved 4.6 million workers for a grand total of 116 million workdays.

The American public was outraged by this, and punished the Democrats on Election Day in November 1946. Republicans won by a landslide in the races for Congress. It was not a presidential election year, so Democrat Harry Truman remained the president. But Republicans obtained large majorities in the House of Representatives (the "House") and the Senate, and immediately began thinking of ways to curb the power of unions.

The result was the passage in the House and Senate of the Taft-Hartley Act, in 1947. This law declared required an oath swearing not to be a communist to be taken by the leaders of unions, and the law established the right of states to become "right to work" states prohibiting unions from requiring all the workers at a company to join a union in order to work there. (Most southern states are "right to work" states; New Jersey is not, which means that unions are still very powerful in New Jersey.)

Then Democratic President Harry Truman vetoed the legislation, as a president has the power to do under the Constitution.

<explain the override of the veto>

Magna Carta

Nearly 800 years ago, in the summer of 1215, the English King John agreed to the Magna Carta.