US Congress Powers, Their Sources and History

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Built on the Principles of Democracy and Equality
Where It All Starts from: The Constitution
The Declaration of Independence: Free to Engage in International Communication
The Articles of the Confederation: Make Peace, not War
Questionable Items and the Means to Address Them
Conclusion: Empowered for Providing People with Their Irrefutable Rights
Works Cited

Introduction: Built on the Principles of Democracy and Equality

Despite the fact that the powers of the Congress are relatively few, they still define the nature, the role and the significance of Congress in the structure of the U.S. government. The history of these powers, though, is quite complicated.

The Constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence provide the Congress with not only the power of affecting the processes of foreign trade, the taxation issue, the defense and welfare of the U.S. citizens, as well as the power of declaring war and maintaining navy, but also with the related powers, e.g., the support of the Navy, as well as a range of exclusive powers.

These responsibilities allow for creating a peaceful and democratic environment for the American nation to thrive in, as well as the well-being of the state and the safety of the citizens, though some of the powers, like the regulation of trade, may be viewed as binding for certain stakeholders in the realm of global trade.

Where It All Starts from: The Constitution

Defining the key events in the U.S. history that predetermined the level, to which the government affects the U.S. citizens’ lives, as well as the powers vested into the Congress, the creation of the opposition to new taxes should be mentioned. Introduced into the U.S. economy under the slogan of “no taxation without representation” (Ginsberg et al. 31), the start of this movement did make a difference in the lives of present-day U.S. citizens.

By creating the movement that would soon get out of hand and, therefore, convince the U.S. citizens that the Congress must execute control over the process of international and home trade, entrepreneurs have defined the power of Congress in terms of the aforementioned domains. It should be born in mind, though, that the concern for the unlimited power that the Congress has over the international trading process may hinder the development of modern SMEs and enterprises due to a comparatively high amount of restrictions imposed onto the owners of entrepreneurships.

However, a shift from the traditional British values and especially the British reign over the economy and the trading process was yet to be dealt with. The economic independence and the principles of free trade, which later on would only be regulated by the American Congress and not the government of Great Britain, were the results of the event known as the Boston tea Party (Ginsberg et al. 31).

The Declaration of Independence: Free to Engage in International Communication

Finally, the Great Compromise must be named among the key historic events that shaped the influence of the Congress and defined the powers that were vested in it. Resulting in every state being represented equally in the Congress despite the amount of the state’s population, the U.S. government made a giant leap forward in establishing democratic principles in the system of state regulation (Ginsberg et al. 40).

It was obvious that the U.S. Congress had a long way to go before it could turn into the body representing the citizens of the United States properly and complying with the key principles of democracy, including the irrefutable rights of the American population. The issue of slavery and racial segregation was yet to be addressed (“The Roots of the American Revolution” 00:04:59); however, for the time being, the events described above served their purpose perfectly, defining the limit of powers that the Congress had to be entitled to.

The Articles of the Confederation: Make Peace, not War

The articles represented by the Confederation have also contributed to the evolution of the roles and functions of the Congress. It is quite remarkable that these are the Articles promoting freedom of speech and debate in the Congress, thus, allowing for the plurality of opinions to be represented among the members of the state government: “Freedom of speech and debate in Congress shall not be impeached or questioned in any Court, or place out of Congress, and the members of Congress shall be protected in their persons from arrest and imprisonments” (Ginsberg et al. A5).

However, the Articles had their problems, primarily, the amount of restrictions that they imposed onto the Congress (“From Articles of Confederation to the Constitution” 00:04:01), and Shays’s Rebellion exposed this weakness to the state government. Because of several economic failures and the relative weakness of the state government, the necessity for the Annapolis Convention to be called emerged.

As a result of the convention, the Articles of the Confederation were reconsidered and the strength of the Congress had to be reinforced. However, of all the events that stressed the weakness of the Congress, Shays’s Rebellion was by far the most significant.

Driven by a mob of farmers under the command of Daniel Shays, who used to be a captain in the U.S. army, the rebellion exposed the weaknesses of the Congress and, therefore, the needs to make the latter stronger by showing how inflexible the Congress was: “The Congress under the Confederation had been unable to act decisively in a time of crisis” (Ginsberg et al. 36).

As a result, it became obvious that more powers had to be vested into the Congress so that the latter could provide the U.S. citizens with the protection that they needed, particularly, with the right to make military choices in order to protect the rights and interests of the U.S. people.

Questionable Items and the Means to Address Them

Naturally, it would be wrong to claim that at present, there is a complete agreement on the powers that are currently vested in the Congress. Quite on the contrary, a range of powers, which the Congress is entitled to by the Constitution (“From Articles of Confederation to the Constitution” 00:09:34), are debated largely at present, the power to control foreign trade being the key hot topic for discussion. On the one hand, the right for managing trade and trade related transactions were handed to the congress since the day that the Constitution was founded.

On the other hand, with the modern globalization process and the expansion of a range of companies, the trading process has admittedly been shifted into the realm of private business. Therefore, it would be a logical choice to let the companies involved handle the trading process, whereas the Congress should remain a medium in the trading transactions.

Nevertheless, the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation guarantee that the state should execute its influence in trade in the course of interacting with international companies. Therefore, the current state of affairs complies with the principles introduced by the Founding Fathers perfectly (“Declaration of Independence” para. 5).

Conclusion: Empowered for Providing People with Their Irrefutable Rights

Though some of the areas, which the Congress is responsible for, might not seem to be the area of the specified body’s competency, the role and key functions of the Congress are clearly based on the key principles of the American democracy described in such historic documents as the declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United states and the Articles of the Confederation.

While at some point, the powers of the Congress may seem to affect the state economy, particularly, trade, too intensely, the powers of the Congress are fully justified by the key postulates of democracy.

Works Cited

“Declaration of Independence.” National Archives. 1776. Web.

“From Articles of Confederation to the Constitution.” University of California Irwin. n. d. Web.

Ginsberg, Benjamin, Theodore J. Lowl, Margaret Weir, and Caroline J. Spitzer. We the People: An Introduction to American Politics Ninth Essentials Edition. New York, NY: Norton & Company. 2013. Web.

“Madisonian Democracy.” University of California Irwin. n. d. Web.

“The Roots of the American Revolution.” University of California Irwin. n. d. Web.

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