Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Touro Law Review

Publication Date

Fall 2000

Abstract

The Constitution is an anachronism, 200 years out of date. Although the Bill of Rights is adequate, much of the Constitution relates to a world we no longer face. Certainly it is true that the whole fight in adopting and ratifying the Constitution was between the federalists and the anti-federalists. The anti-federalists did not want a central government because a central government with a standing army could march on the States and use their weapons to impose all kinds of tyranny and deprive the States of their liberty. The whole push and pull of the Philadelphia Convention, the Constitution, and the ratifying conventions was to give the national government some power, but not enough to use that power to somehow overwhelm the States. In light of this, a national government of linited powers was created. Congress was given seventeen enumerated powers and the Necessary and Proper Clause. The States wanted to give the national government only those limited powers that a national government needs, such as, the power to raise an army, control over foreign affairs, and the power to raise taxes; the states wanted to take care of the rest.

Share

COinS
 
 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.