The Commerce Clause: An Expansion of Federal Power

“Perhaps it may be thought, that the power of regulation will be left placed in the governments of the several states, and that a general superintendence is unnecessary. If the states had distinct interests, were unconnected with each other, their own governments would then be the proper and could be the only depositories of such a power; but as they are parts of a whole with a common interest in trade, as in other things, there ought to be a common direction in that as in all other matters.”

-Alexander Hamilton arguing the importance of the Commerce Clause in Continentalist No.5

A key hallmark of the Constitution was the Commerce Clause, included in Section 8 of Article One; specifically the section giving the federal government the power to regulate interstate commerce. The Commerce Clause’s inclusion in the Constitution has had significant impact on the federal government’s right to regulate interstate commerce, and has evolved into an instrument to interject into many other areas that states formerly had the right to regulate. It has allowed the federal government to keep its responsibility to the people: regulating the nation’s economy, ensuring fair business practices, and maintaining economic stability. The Commerce Clause, over time, would define responsibilities, and establish rights between the states, and federal government.

“To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;”

-Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the US Constitution (Commerce Clause)

Need for the Commerce Clause

The Constitution of the United States dealt with separating rights and responsibilities between the federal government, the respective state governments, local governments, and the people...

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...ially parallel railroad lines. The court ruled that the trust eliminated competition and was thus illegal under the Anti-Trust Act. This would lead to a series of monopoly breaking investigations by the Theodore Roosevelt administration. The most important case involving the act was the dissolution of Standard Oil in order to ensure a competitive market for the exploration, refining, and trade of oil. The other major cases involving this act included the dissolution of AT&T and The American Tobacco Company. In all these cases the parent company was divided into several smaller companies to increase competition; the federal government used the Sherman Anti-Trust act and the Commerce Clause as justification. This led to the practice where the federal government can effectively block a merger between large companies that would result in a decrease of competition.