The Rise of the American People; A Philosophical Interpretation of American History

This historic book may have numerous typos, missing text or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1914. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... Speaker of the House more powerful than the President and raised that office to a height it has never lost. By 1830, too, the transfer of the preponderance of legislative power from the House to the Senate, which has made the latter what it is to-day, the balance wheel of our legislative fabric, was well under way. The real Constitution of the United States by which we live was largely written by Chief Justice Marshall during his long term of office from 1801 to 1835. The interpretation of the broad phrases and inclusive wording intentionally placed in the document by the framers to enable it to be adapted to the exigencies of times and occasions was a difficult task under any conditions. It was essential that something more than a few specific decisions should be made; the general rules for the consistent interpretation of the document under all conditions had to be developed, tested, and applied to a sufficient variety of cases to provide the country with the definite body of constitutional precedents which alone could give the individual that degree of personal and civil liberty the Constitution guaranteed him. In particular the clause concerning the powers of Congress required most careful treatment. It was at once obvious that only a tithe of the powers which Congress must actually exercise had been enumerated and that only a liberal interpretation of these clauses would permit the Federal government to legislate outside a very narrow range indeed. Jefferson and Madison had declared for the strictest possible construction and the unconstitutionality of every power not explicitly granted. Marshall, however, as Chief Justice, possessed an authority to interpret the Constitution which was denied the President, and the Constitution itself made his decisions bin...