Are there limits to the power of Congress? Find out on today's podcast.

Center for Civic Education

Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution includes two general statements of power of Congress: the general welfare clause and the necessary and proper clause.

Center for Civic Education

Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution includes seventeen enumerated powers of Congress, including the right to impose and collect taxes and duties, borrow money, and declare war.

Center for Civic Education

The Framers of the Constitution didn't want Congress to have too much power. So, they gave Congress specific powers, called the enumerated powers of the Constitution, and they placed limitations on those powers. They also gave Congress some general powers to deal with unexpected situations.

Center for Civic Education

Learn about the debate at the Philadelphia Convention over what powers to give Congress.

Center for Civic Education

The American experience with the British government had caused many of the Framers of the U.S. Constitution to be suspicious of a central government and executive power. The Framers wanted the national governmet to be strong enough to protect the rights of the people, but not so strong that it would endanger those rights.

Center for Civic Education

The Articles of Confederation, which was the framework for the first government of the United States, proved that it was not up to the challenges of its time. Congress was very weak, and could not control the actions of state governments.

Center for Civic Education

North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia would not have supported the Constitution without compromised that protected slavery in the South. This would have dire consequences for the country.

Center for Civic Education

The Constitution contained many compromises between Northern and Southern delegates in order to convince Southern delegates to support the system of government created by the document. Examples include allowing the slave trade to continue until at least 1808, the the three-fifths clause, and the fugitive slave clause.

Center for Civic Education

Delegates from three Southern states at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 said they refused to be part of a union of states that denied them the right to own and import enslaved people. Delegates who opposed slavery faced a dilemma: include all thirteen states in the union or abolish slavery.

Center for Civic Education