The phrase “general Welfare” is the only phrase to appear twice in the United States Constitution. It first appears in the preamble to the Constitution and then later in Section 8.
It’s important for seniors, in particular, to understand the background of the phrase, because it is Section 8 of the Constitution’s “general Welfare” clause that the Supreme Court found Social Security to be Constitutional.
Exactly what does Section 8 say?
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;–And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Even while the Constitution was being debated, our Founding Fathers immediately began to disagree over what they meant by the ‘general Welfare clause.’ James Madison , an aristocrat and plantation owner, argued that Section 8 clearly delineated the exact powers the federal government had with respect to the ‘general welfare.” The problem for Madison was the last section as it seemed to give broad powers to the Federal government. Alexander Hamilton , a lawyer and banker, argued just that. He argued that Section 8 meant the federal government had the power to do almost anything with respect to the general welfare, provided the conditions laid out for taxation were upheld. Their respective positions are laid out in the now famous, “Federalist Papers.” Since both men were instrumental in drafting the Constitution, both opinions had weight.
The point to be made here is, the Founding Fathers disagreed as to how the Congress of the United States would operate. Madison held a narrow view of the role of the federal government and Hamilton held a much broader view. It is Hamilton’s view that has dominated what is called “settled case law” since Social Security. And since that is the case, it might be useful to look at why. Some people believe that reading the text of the Constitution is the only thing necessary in understanding what our Founding Fathers intended; but I think it’s important to understand who our Founding Fathers were and why they wrote, what they wrote.
First, let’s look at the country. At the time of the writing of the United States Constitution, the entire country had less than 3 million people. Think about that; this vast new land had less than 3 million people. The most populated colony was Pennsylvania with 335,000 residents, including 8,000 slaves and the second most was South Carolina with 225,000 residents, including 97,000 slaves.
The colonies were agrarian. Largely populated by plantations. And those plantations were operated by slaves. For those individuals who thought the United States would continue to be a plantation society, like James Madison and even Thomas Jefferson, small government seemed to make sense. Plantations were like self-sufficient little towns unto themselves. Very profitable little towns based on a slavery business model. Wade Hampton of South Caroline was the wealthiest man in America with 3,000 slaves. Plantation owners like Madison, Hampton, Jefferson saw little reason to look to a federal government to do little more than provide for a defense against internal or external aggression.
Alexander Hamilton, on the other hand, was a lawyer and banker from New York; a colony of 221,000, of which 21,000 were slaves. Hamilton saw the coming of an industrial revolution and the end of a Plantation society — That there would be Manufacturing in America and that the Federal government would need to play a role in it.
Hamilton argued in the Federalist Papers that, with the exception of the three qualifiers noted in the Constitution: “the power to raise money is plenary, and indefinite; and the objects to which it may be appropriated are no less comprehensive than the payment of public debts and the providing for the common defence and “general Welfare.” … “General Welfare necessarily embraces a variety of particulars, which are susceptible neither of specifications nor of definition.”
In other words, Hamilton believed that the Federal government could tax Americans as long as it provided for the general welfare, in a fair manner. And it is Hamilton’s vision of what Section 8 meant, that the Supreme Court has used to find Social Security to be Constitutional.
Now some Americans to this day prefer Madison’s interpretation of the Constitution. But the fact is that Madison’s opinion was based on his belief that America would remain an agrarian society based on slave labor. Hamilton saw the coming industrial revolution and the need for a stronger federal government and the Court has sided with Hamilton.
Filed Under: Featured Blog Posts, Medicare, Political, Social Security, Uncategorized
About Georgeana Mimms
Georgeana Mimms was a researcher at the Social Policy Lab of the Andrus Gerontology Center at the University of Southern California, Deputy Director of the Asociation Pro Personas Mayores and a Special Consultant to the Los Angeles County Area Agency on Aging.
