We are familiar with the separation of powers in out nation's constitution. No single branch of our government is all powerful. We are often less familiar with the checks placed upon state power and the checks placed upon our voice in decision making, checks on the voice of the people.
Look over the attached pdf in the Google Classroom instructions. Select one of the checks that is listed and share in the comments why you think that this power was given to the national government. Why did the founders want the national government to have this power instead of the states or the people?
As is our practice, please reply to two other comments.
Sample Comment:
· "Article I, Section 10 - The states cannot tax exports or imports" - This is most likely included in our constitution to avoid inconsistent trade policies between the many states and other nations. John Adams attempted to negotiate trade deals during the confederation period and he was asked by Great Britain/England if he represented one state or all 13. While this power resembles the controversial navigation acts of the 1760s, the young United States sees this power as a priority in 1787.
Article I, section 10, clause 3: "No state can keep their own standing army or navy, or engage in their own war." This was included in the constitution to ensure that the states did not become more powerful than the whole nation. Additionally, the bit about the states not being able to go to war with each other was to make sure that each of the states did not act as their own nation within America. It was important to make sure that a sense of stability and national power was kept in the new nation because they were still very young and needed credibility and time to be able to figure out how to govern.
ReplyDeleteI agree, especially as it is a new nation, it needs to keep as much stability as it can.
DeleteI agree. The States, while they were still supposed to have some autonomy, were never meant to act like nations.
DeleteAgreed. Letting the states have their own armies would make it easier for them to revolt against the federal government.
DeleteI agree. I think the point of a lot of these clauses was to make sure the states stayed unified, and that no state emerged as its own power.
DeleteI think that having their own armies would create too much of a divide between all the states, so only having the national government having this power is smart.
DeleteSakari
DeleteI agree, having states start their own wars would be a terrible idea.
Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 - No state can keep their own standing army or navy, or engage in their own war. These powers are reserved to the national government, and the
ReplyDeletestates cannot assume these powers and act as a “sovereign nation”. - I think this article was included as a way to make sure that none of the states can raise a violent rebellion backed by an army (ex Shays' Rebellion.) It was decided that in order to keep the nation under control, it would be best to keep the power to raise an army to the federal government, where there are more rules and regulations which in turn make the process safer.
I also agree that this is an important measure to quell rebellions.
DeleteIf states each had their own army, the United States would not be nearly as "United" as it would seem; states would fight each other instead of fighting together.
DeleteI agree with what you said. Rebellions most likely don't benefit the state or the nation in the long run.
DeleteI also agree with this, they wanted to prevent rebellions and wars between the states
DeleteI agree, it turn the states against each other and divide the nation.
DeleteI agree. They were scared by the ideas of rebellions and conspiracies backed by armies because they knew from their experience in the revolution how successful they can be.
DeleteSakari
DeleteI agree that this was probably also a measure against rebellions.
Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 - Only the Senate has the power to try Impeachment so people don’t have direct voice in Impeachment trials.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Founders included this into the Constitution because they believed that the people would not always be sufficiently informed to take such a big decision as to impeach an elected official. They understood that some people will not always be sufficiently informed to make such significant decisions, and that's why they instituted this check, among others, on the citizens of the United States.
so true, i agree with everything you included in your explanation.
DeleteI agree. Many people would likely be persuaded by popularity and majority opinion rather than facts, so it's very important that only educated people have the power to impeach someone.
DeleteI agree, states with the power to impeach elected officials could be biased due to they ideals of their general population.
DeleteI agree with this and think that it is important for the government officials to have that job.
DeleteI agree because certain citizens may be biased and may vote to impeach an official simply because they don't like them
DeleteArticle I, Section 10, Clause 1 - no state can enter themselves into their own treaty,
ReplyDeletealliance, or confederation, or coin money. This is to prevent the states from establishing themselves as a “sovereign nation”.
I think this was also geared towards keeping peace between the states. For example if Virginia entered an alliance to support Spain in war and offer them military strength, and Pennsylvania entered in a treaty with France to fight with them against the Spanish, then the two states would be at war and things would get messy. It could also get messy if they started coining their own currencies or other large discrepancies. By giving these powers to the central government they ensured that the states would have uniform foreign policy, currency, etc.
Yes, it is important for them to keep the nation in check and in order, so they can't have states just going off individually and fighting in wars or coining their own money.
DeleteI agree. If the power struggle between states was left untouched, it would probably lead to the internal destruction of the country due to chaos in the nation and no coordination in power.
DeleteI agree with this, they wanted to keep the peace between the states.
DeleteI agree, if one state was able to build its own economy it would negatively impact the country as a whole.
DeleteI totally agree, if this didn't exist, the states would basically become their own nation.
DeleteI agree. It is meant to stop competing interest among the states that would trigger infighting in the US.
DeleteI agree, no infighting within the states would be important to keep the nation from self-destructing, and this part of the checks helps prevent that.
DeleteSakari
DeleteWhile yes, I agree that this was to stop infighting, the fact that it says "no individual currency" was probably also because it would be harder to travel between states if each had their own currency and inflation rates.
Article I, Section 8, Clause 1 - The Federal Government gets to put taxes and excises on all states, for the “general welfare” of our nation, no matter if the states refuse them.
ReplyDeleteI believe this power was given to the Federal government to allow wealth to be more evenly distributed among the nation. Therefore, a state would find it harder to economically dominate other states since it would have to give up some its wealth for the "general welfare" the entire United States.
i agree, it is important to keep wealth even all around
DeleteI agree. They wanted to have some control over the wealth of each state, so money could go to the country as a whole rather than a couple states.
DeleteI agree since it made it so that states had equal wealth, and also made it so that states bore a responsibility in the welfare of the nation as a whole.
DeleteI agree and the government wants to ensure that the wealth of the country is found federally and not on the state level
DeleteArticle I, Section 3, Clause 6 - Only the Senate has the power to try Impeachment so people don’t have direct voice in Impeachment trials.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the Founders incorporated this into the Constitution since they accepted that individuals would not generally be adequately educated to accept a significant choice as to reprimand a chosen official. They comprehended that a few group won't generally be adequately educated to settle on such critical choices, and that is the reason they organized this check, among others, on the residents of the United States.
I agree with what you've said. They want the people to be apart of this but they also knew that the decision of impeachment needed to be an informed and educated one that not all could make.
DeleteI agree, because the impeachment would need to be done by educated people, or else, decisions would be more likely made using reasons like bias, etc.
DeleteArticle 1, Section 10, Clause 1- "no state can enter themselves into their own treaty, alliance, or confederation, or coin money."
ReplyDeleteI think this was included to make sure that states can't try to gain more power than other states. There was a constant power struggle between the states since they were too strong, so this article serves the purpose of checking the individual states' power amongst the others.
I agree, this kept them all the under equal uniform policies. Without it the states might not have been able to coexist in the long term.
DeleteI agree, since this made it so that states couldn't gang up on smaller ones for its land and prevented wars.
DeleteI agree, this clause helps eliminate potential opportunities for conflict between states.
DeleteI chose Article 1V, Section 1- "Each state has to recognize the validity of laws, public records, and court decisions of every other state. No one state has authority over any other state."
ReplyDeleteI think that this was included because they didn't want any of the states to gain more power than the others and to gain more authority than the others. They wanted the states to remain equal to each other and they didn't want one state to grow more powerful so they included that each state had to recognize and acknowledge the laws and court decisions of the other states.
I agree. They definitely wanted all the states to be on equal-footing, or at least they didn't want another attempted rebellion/coup.
DeleteArticle I, Section 10, Clause 3: This power was given to the federal government in order to ensure the unity of the country, as 1 state could not declare war or fight by itself, the entire country would do it together. In addition, it made sure that one state could not gain military power and attempt to break away from the nation.
ReplyDeleteI agree. They definitely didn't want states to break away.
DeleteArticle 1, Section 10, Clause 1- no state can enter themselves into their own treaty, alliance, or confederation, or coin money. This is to prevent the states from establishing themselves as a "sovereign nation".
ReplyDeleteI think this is extremely crucial because if this didn't exist, the states wouldn't really be states, they would (in a way) be their own nations, which defeats the purpose of the "United States".
I completely agree, this is extremely important as it ensures that these states work together as part or America, not by themselves.
DeleteI agree, it is important that the states didn't act as individual countries, but as states united under one government.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete"Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 - no state can enter themselves into their own treaty, alliance, or confederation, or coin money. This is to prevent the states from establishing themselves as a 'sovereign nation'."
ReplyDeleteI think they included this check on the states because they did not want a group of states to have more power than other states or the national government. They could get this power by making a treaty with another country, or with other states. They saw how necessary the alliance between the colonies was to beating the British during the Revolution (one slogan was 'Join or Die'), and they did not want states to have that kind of power. We can also see from our nations history (specifically the civil war) how big an affect states joining into a confederation can have.
I think they learned from previous internal conflicts among the states, and previous situations where Congress needed to exercise power that they didn't have.
DeleteIf this were not in place than it would it divide the country making it weak and can lead to war.
DeleteArticle III, Section 3 - States are not allowed to convict citizens to treason. I think this clause was established to make sure states do not have enough power to scare their people. If they are able to convict people with treason, they can kill or imprison easily. That would be giving the states way too much power and therefore this clause was put in place.
ReplyDeleteThis makes sense, convicting someone of treason is a serious crime, and if the states had this amount of power to do so against their citizens, then it would frighten many, which may be why only the federal government can press charges for these federal crimes.
DeleteArticle VI, Section 2, Clause 1 - “This Constitution shall be the Supreme Law of the Land and every state shall be bound thereby.” This clause presents a balance and says that states need to follow the same constitution. It makes it so that states can't create their own constitutions and follow different principles, because if that happened, there would be many clashes and possibly even a civil war.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Without this, states would be fighting much more over laws, and having a supreme law in the constitution helps establish a document recognized in every part of every state in the nation.
DeleteEthan Lader
I chose Article I, Section 8, Clause I. "The Federal Government gets to put taxes and excises on all states, for the general welfare of our nation, no matter if the states refuse them." This clause keeps the states in check, and also is the best way to provide for public needs ("general welfare") of the country. Simply allowing state officials to tax their own state would create too much of a divide between states. People would be taxed for reasons that are self-serving to their state alone. The point of this clause is to handle national level problems, such as debt, and organizations, such as the military. This is a power that only the federal government can have.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Having checks on the power of states is very important, since without them divisions can be created, putting the entire nation in turmoil.
DeleteEthan Lader
Article I, section 10, clause 3: No state can keep their own standing army or navy, or engage in their own war.
ReplyDeleteThis clause ensures that the states did not become more powerful than the nation nation as a whole. I think states would have seemed more like individual countries rather than states part of a nation without this clause. This also makes sure that states can't fight each other and that the main power was the central government. This would also make rebellions against the government like Shay's rebellion more difficult to organize and to execute. This clause helped creates a sense of unity and stability.
The founders did not want the states to be able to go to war, because that is the power of a nation, and a state is not a nation. If a state could go to war individually, it would have power equal to the national government, and that is something to be avoided.
ReplyDeleteArticle 1 Section 10 Clause 1. This clause states that no state can enter themselves into their own treaty, alliance, confederation, or currency. I believe that this is extremely important since without these provisions, deep divisions would be created between states, putting them potentially in conflict with with other. Logically, conflict of such nature is extremely dangerous, and threatens the existence of the states involved.
ReplyDeleteEthan Lader
Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 - No state can keep their own standing army or navy, or engage in their own war. These powers are reserved to the national government,and the states cannot assume these powers and act as a “sovereign nation."
ReplyDeleteThis clause was most likely included to ensure that no one state or particular group could gain enough power to act as its own country. In order for the U.S. to be taken seriously as a nation and to remain powerful, it needed all of the states to be acting together, not separately. If a state were able to have its own army and fight in an independent war, it would be its own nation, not part of a bigger one. Either that, or the entire country would have to be drawn into the war.
I agree, the people at the time were wary that one state or group of people may become too powerful and break off from the nation, which would weaken the United States considerably and was something that they could not handle at the time.
Delete"Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 - The president will be removed from office if they are found guilty in an impeachment case. Only the Senate, not directly elected then, could convict a President." This power was given to the national government, and founders wanted the national government to have this power instead of the states or the people, because it gave the Senate (which wasn't elected at the time) the sole power to be able to impeach a President, as the people would grapple with one another and may not have the capability to do so. Allowing only the Senate to impeach and remove a President gives them complete control over it, and make the president think about who they wanted to appoint as senators back then (when they were still appointed)
ReplyDeleteArticle I, Section 8, Clause 1 - This power was given to the national government and not the states because otherwise the states might not even tax themselves and the national government might not have even had money.
ReplyDeleteArticle I, Section 10 - The states cannot tax exports or imports
ReplyDeleteThis ensured that the states would not economically act as an independent subject, but also made it explicit the power should only be given to the federal government
Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 - no state can enter themselves into their own treaty,
ReplyDeletealliance, or confederation, or coin money. This is to prevent the states from establishing
themselves as a “sovereign nation”.
This was added because it prevents the nation from becoming divided, If each state became its own sovereign nation than war would break out, and it would tear the USA apart, leaving it vulnerable to outside forces. Having a unified nation ensures thing like that don't happen.
Sakari
ReplyDeleteArticle I, Section 8, Clause 1 - The Federal Government gets to put taxes and excises on all states, for the “general welfare” of our nation, no matter if the states refuse them.
This is obviously insured so that the nation wouldn't go broke again, but I also believe this can ensure that the national government can stop states from taking advantage of each other, as it also controls state trade. It can prevent the states from taxing each other for goods way higher than necessary, and keep the economy flowing smoothly.