Necessary and Proper Supremacy - Federalist #33
In this week’s edition of Federalist Fridays, we look at Hamilton's observations on two clauses in the Constitution which were, at the time, being used by Anti-Federalists to dissuade citizens from approving the new government.
In Federalist #33, Hamilton is clearly frustrated with his opponents which can be seen in both his tone and the FACT that he uses A LOT of CAPS!
Federalist #33
January 3, 1788
Alexander Hamilton
A Break From Tax Discussions
Alexander Hamilton published Federalist #33 while still in the midst of a his discussion on the need for a Federal Government to have the power to tax.
However, as he notes in the Paper, he is only using taxation as an example here because that is the topic at hand. Federalist #33 is a bit of a digression from this topic as Alexander diverts his attention to another set of Anti-Federalists criticisms which revolve around two clauses in the Constitution.
Necessary and Proper
Most of Federalist #33 discusses Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 of the United States Constitution.
Commonly known as the ‘necessary and proper’ clause, it gives the Federal Government the right to make any laws which are needed to execute its duties.
Anti-Federalists feared that this clause would give the Federal Government the ability to abuse its power and make the State Governments obsolete.
Hamilton makes the argument that any laws which disobey the Constitution would be necessary and improper. Basically, the Constitution does not give the government the ability to do anything unconstitutional.
Supreme Law of the Land
Hamilton then discusses Article 6, Clause 2 which makes the Federal Government the supreme law of the land.
Again, Anti-Federalists were afraid this would be used by the Union to take away the rights of the States, and the people.
Hamilton’s position here is that the Federal Government needs to be the supreme law of the land or else it is not a government but a treaty between States. If this were the case, then the Union might as well stick with the Articles of Confederation...a situation very few of the Founders wanted.
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