- Welcome back to The Constitution Line by Line,
I'm Senator Mike Lee and today we'll be looking
at the final section of Article I of the Constitution
that is Article I, Section 10.
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This section explains the powers that are explicitly denied
to the state governments.
The text of Article I, Section 10 reads quote,
"No state shall enter into any treaty, alliance
or confederation, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
coin money, emit bills of credit, make anything but gold
and silver coin a tender in payment of debts,
pass any bill of attainder, ex post facto law,
or law impairing the obligation of contracts
or grant any title of nobility.
No State shall, without the consent of the Congress,
lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports,
except what may be absolutely necessary for the executing
it's inspection laws, and the net produce of all duties
and imposts, laid by any state on imports or exports,
shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States,
and all such laws shall be subject to the revision
and controul of the Congress.
No state shall, without the consent of Congress,
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war
in times of peace, enter into any agreement or compact
with another state, or with a foreign power,
or engage in war, unless actually invaded,
or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay,"
close quote.
In Article I, Section 9
we saw that the Constitution specifically denied
certain powers to the federal government.
In section 10, these prohibitions are largely duplicated
and applied to the states.
This is noteworthy because the rest of the Constitution
has very little to say about what states can and cannot do.
It's mostly concerned with limiting the power
of the federal government while leaving the states
broad latitude to operate as they please.
In the Tenth Amendment of The Bill of Rights
for example, the states are given authority over every issue
not explicitly named in the Constitution.
Still, there were some things that the founders didn't want
even the smaller state governments to be able to do,
certain liberties that they didn't want infringed.
Some of these have to do with the application of justice,
while others are more concerned with facilitating trade
and commerce across state lines, which is a continuing theme
that we've seen throughout Article I in response
to the difficulties created by the earlier
articles of confederation.
This section also prevents the states from overstepping
their authority in military matters or national defense.
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The first clause of Article I, Section 10,
sometimes known as the Contracts Clause preserves
the demarcation between federal and state authority.
In Article I, Section 8, we saw that Congress is given
the authority to enter into treaties, to grant letters
of mark and reprisal, to coin money and issue legal tender.
The Contracts Clause prevents the states from creating
conflicting laws that would undermine
congressional authority.
After all the power to create a national currency
wouldn't mean much if the states could each coin
their own money or issue paper bills as a substitute,
nor would a national treaty be binding if the states
could individually enter into conflicting agreements.
This clause also doubles down on prohibiting bills
of attainder which allow for the conviction
of suspected criminals without a trial.
Ex post facto laws, which create crimes retroactively
and the granting of titles of nobility, all of which
were denied to Congress in Article I, Section 9.
The most contentious part of this clause is the line
prohibiting states from impairing the obligation
of contracts.
This language gives the clause its name and that was
the source of considerable litigation in the 19th Century.
The second clause prevents the states from imposing duties
and tariffs to interfere with commerce
and with their neighbors.
And the third clause ensures that the states are not able
to start or wage wars unless they're under threat
of actual invasion.
One particularly notable challenge to the Contracts Clause
came in Fletcher v. Peck in 1810,
that case centered around the Yazoo Land Scandal of 1794.
This was a scandal in which some corrupt politicians
in Georgia, accepted bribes to sell 40 million acres of land
in what was then called the Yazoo region of Georgia.
And they sold the land to speculators
at severely reduced prices.
Amidst public outrage, the subsequent Georgia legislature
sought to reverse the sale, but the Supreme Court ruled
in a unanimous decision that the contracts were binding
and that the Contract's Clause of The Constitution
prevented the state of Georgia from nullifying them.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John Marshall
defined a contract as quote,
"A compact between two or more parties," close quote,
clearing up some ambiguity in the wording of the clause.
This case marks one of the first times
that the Supreme Court acted to overturn a state law.
By going through the text of Article I with me
one line at a time, I hope you've been able
to gain a greater appreciation for why
the Constitution is important.
And for the various considerations
that motivated its drafting in the first place,
it's not just a dusty historical relic.
It remains a guiding light for how our government ought
to operate, even if we occasionally
or more than occasionally fall short.
Thanks so much for joining me on this journey
through The Constitution Line by Line.
I hope it's been as enjoyable for you as it has been for me.
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