Federalist #42

The Powers Conferred by the Constitution Further Considered  (Madison)


Madison starts with this essay with an exploration of those rights conferred on the federal government in order to regulate the relationships with foreign nations. These powers (make treaties, send and receive ambassadors and other public officials, define and punish piracies on the high seas, regulate foreign commerce (HUGE- potential ban on the importation of slaves after 1808). Madison asserts quite forcefully that “if we are to be one nation, it clearly ought to be in respect to other nations.” The power to send/receive ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls is not controversial to Madison. He asserts that this power is found in the Articles but is inadequate because of the complex definition of public ministers. The Constitution takes into account all the possible avenues that foreign policy and trade may require. Define and punish piracies on the high seas should be given over to the federal government because each state had its own definition that were not the same and foreign nations complained that these disparate definitions were hurting trade.

The most interesting part of this essay is Madison’s discussion of the ban of importation of slaves by 1808. He calls the slave TRADE itself “ a traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided the barbarism of modern policy.” He concludes this portion by stating “ Happy would it be for the unfortunate Africans, if an equal prospect lay before them of being redeemed form the oppressions of their European brethren!”

Madison moves on to the third class of powers, harmony and proper intercourse among the states. He includes here, regulate interstate commerce, to coin money and regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, to punish counterfeiting, fix the standards of weights and measures, establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws of bankruptcy, prescribe the manner in which the public acts of each State shall be proved, and to establish post offices and roads. Madison will spend the rest of the essay discussing the two most controversial of these, regulating interstate commerce and uniform rule of naturalization.

Madison says that one of the clear defects of the Confederation is that the federal government lacks the power to regulate the trade between the states. He starts by noting that the great and essential power of regulating foreign commerce would be incomplete without being able to regulate commerce between the states. He notes that states could just impose tariffs and the like once goods make it to the country, rendering all of the work of federal government moot.

Madison then moves on to the rules of naturalization. He starts by noting a defect in the Articles. He notes that there is confusion of the language, when it refers to free inhabitants, free citizens, and people in various sections. Madison says this ambiguity hurts potential immigrants and states as they try to create rule of naturalization.