The First Constitutional Violations

Our founding fathers were great men, but even they could lose the true meaning behind their Independence. During the drafting of the Constitution there were Republicans, who were avid supporters for state sovereignty, and Federalists (Nationalists), who wanted a stronger central government. Although the Republicans won out, it did not take long for Federalists to expand the intent and scope of the Constitution with unconstitutional acts. Only a year after the Constitution passed, the First Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, which immediately expanded the powers of the federal court system. It established both a federal appellate and district courts. This act should have been ruled unconstitutional.

The first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, was a Federalist and in 1793 in Chisholm vs. Georgia he denied that Georgia was sovereign because the Constitution was ratified by the people. Furthermore, Jay drafted a treaty with Britain, called “Jays Treaty” in 1795. This too was unconstitutional since only the Senate can initiate and ratify treaties. Jay claimed the Supreme Courts sole objective was to ensure the success of presidential administrations and therefore, supported unconstitutional legislation from both the Washington and Adams administrations.

Alexander Hamilton, our first Secretary of the Treasury was a devoted Monarchist. His first act was to create a National Bank. This too should have been unconstitutional, but it passed. It passed under Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution – the Necessary and Proper Clause. Although a national bank was not “necessary”, Hamilton argued that “necessary” did not mean necessary it meant “desired” or “convenient”. Besides, Hamilton claimed that Congress had all powers the Constitution did not deny it. This obviously was not true, since it violates the Tenth Amendment that claims powers not granted to Congress belong to the states.

Our first president, George Washington, wanted to remain neutral during a war between France and Britain. Thus, he declared that any American citizen that takes sides in the conflict will be prosecuted. First, this violates people’s first amendment rights; secondly, Washington does not have the power to legislate. Furthermore, Washington led an army against American Citizens protesting a whiskey tax. Where in the constitution does it give the federal government power to wage war on its citizens? Washington’s biggest presidential mistake was continually siding with Hamilton’s ideas over those of Thomas Jefferson who was the Secretary of State.

Our second president, John Adams, enacted the Alien Enemies Act, the Alien Friends Act, and the Sedition Act, which basically violated all civil liberties covered in the Bill Rights. These laws claimed that immigrants were not entitled to Constitutional rights, and any American citizens who openly disagreed with the administration’s actions would be prosecuted.

The second Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, John Marshall, may have had the biggest negative impact on the Constitution. Marshall would cite “The Federalist” in some of his decisions. The Federalist was a group of essays written by Jay, Hamilton, and James Madison that were not legal documents. In fact, they often gave contradictory and confusing views of the Constitution and were sovereignty lie, in the states or federal government. In Marbury v Madison, Marshall set precedent that the federal courts had the right to review congressional legislation. In Fletcher v Peck he gave a broad view of the Contracts Clause and what’s worse is he set precedent the high court could oversee the laws introduced by state legislators. Finally, in Martin v Hunter’s Lessee he set a precedent the Supreme Court could review decisions made by state judiciaries. And this was a direct violation of the newly ratified eleventh amendment, which limits the scope of the Supreme Court to the confines of Article III of the Constitution.

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase was the first and only high court judge to be impeached. Chase violated his oath and the Constitution by using extreme prejudice against violators of the Sedition Acts. In essence, Chase thought this Act gave him the power to open a witch hunt on people that spoke out against the Adams administration. The Senate did not convict Chase; hence, this precedent meant that high court members were allowed to violate their oath to serve and protect the people and the constitution.

Oddly, the behavior of our greatest patriots, who gave us our freedom, digressed once they obtained positions of federal power. Their ruling actions were not much different than King George III, the tyrant they fought to gain their freedom. All of this being said however, the Constitutional violations, by these men, were mild when compared to those of future politicians and judges.