The Commerce clause refers to Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, which gives Congress the power “to regulate commerce with foregin nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes”. This clause is one of the most fundamental powers delegated to congress by the founders. It has helped to seprate the powers between the federal governemtn and the states, along with the branches of governemtn and Judiciary. In simpler terms the commerce clause was to help regulate commerce among navigable waters. A landmark case Gibbons vs. Ogden, the chief justice ruled that the power to regulate interstate commerce also included the power to regulate interstate navigation. Within its decision of the courts the …show more content…
Another issue was with the owner of Ollie’s Barbecue, in Birmingham, Alabama, Discuss the Supreme Court cases that address this topic, such as Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, Katzenbach v. McClung, and others. These court case rulings marked a way we think about civil rights enforcement under our Constitution. Title II goes to show that any racial discrimination, even private racial discrimination, affects interstate commerce. Many parts of the US Constition are involved within the commernce clause and the civil rights act. To start, the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments where all ratified after the civil war, which gave the congress the powers to enfore civil rights. The 13th amendment enforces the ban on slavery. The 14th amendment gave Congress authority to enforce the amendment’s prohibition on a state’s denial of equal protection of the laws. Also established the citizenship birthright meaning anyone born in the United States is automatically a citizen. There is also no denying the person in the United States life, liberty, or property without due process. The 15th amendment gave Congress authority to enforce the amendment’s ban on discrimination by race,
McCulloch vs Maryland Summary In case of McCulloch vs Maryland is a landmark case that questioned the extent of federal government 's separation of power from state government. A problem arose when the Second Bank of America was established. With the War of 1812 and it’s financial suffering in the past, the government sought to create a bank with the purpose of securing the ability to fund future wars and financial endeavors. Many states were disappointed with this new organization, one of them being Maryland.
Citation: Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States Facts: More people including black americans were starting to travel very recently but lodging for black americans was nonexistent or very limited which subdued and detoured black americans from traveling. Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 declared it to be illegal for racial discrimination by places of public accommodation if their operations affect commerce. Heart of Atlanta Motel saw a great volume of its customer base to be out of state guest but refused to serve black americans traveling or serve black americans in any form. The motel believed congress overreached their power of authority and that it was unconstitutional increase of power by Congress to regulate
Ogden (1824)). The Court continued to review this case in great detail. Section 8 of Article 1 could be interpreted in many different ways and they wanted to be sure that the ruling would be fair not only to Ogden and Gibbons but to other steamboat operators as well. Chief Justice John Marshall ultimately decided that Congress had the power to regulate commerce in interstate waterways because if each state made its own rules, it would be almost impossible to trade in the waterways.
The regulation of interstate commerce was the subject of the case, Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). New York state laws allowed Aaron Ogden to charge crossing fees through his waterways via legal New York monopolies. Thomas Gibbons, a steamboat trader asserted that the state was prohibited from superseding Congress in regards to interstate commerce. The Court invalidated the New York law simultaneously, confirming Congress’ power to manage interstate commerce via the Commerce Clause. Justice Johnson believed reversing state laws that impeded interstate commerce was solely the role and power of the federal government.
Our Documents - Transcript of Gibbons v. Ogden (1824). Accessed November 10, 2017. https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc This impactful court case was based on two men who thought their licenses outweighed one another. It is clear based on this transcript of the Gibbons and Ogden case that congress was given the power to control regulation of interstate waterway commerce.
These three amendments are all very powerful and important amendments because the 14th amendment granted equal rights under the law and in Eric Forner ’s words he states “While the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868 granted former enslaved people the right to be recognized as citizens” Downs, Jim. Sick from Freedom (p. 8). The 13th amendment abolished all slavery and the book by Eric Forner states “the passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, which formally abolished the institution of slavery.” Downs, Jim.
The questions at hand were complex, and involved citizenship and government aid, and had to take the public’s varied opinions into account, as well as the political makeup of Congress. The 13th Amendment freed the slaves, but gave the slaves nothing except their freedom. The 14th amendment defined citizenship, then not only made discriminatory legislation (such as black codes) illegal, but provided consequences for states that did not comply. The Reconstruction Acts, although too broad and expensive to be applied in their entirety, required that the former Confederate States ratify the 13th and 14th amendments, as well as submit redrafted state Constitutions in order to be readmitted to the Union. The 15th Amendment made it possible for people to vote regardless of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”, making it a radical, although certainly not selfless, act that granted African-Americans political power
Week 7 Application In 1890 the Sherman Act was form it was a federal anti-monopoly and anti-trust statute that prohibited activities that restricted interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. The purpose of the Sherman Act was to prevent larger companies from gaining control and forming trusts to in the competition. But, because the Sherman Act was used in reverse against the labor unions to dismantle the unions it was eventually abandoned (Johnson.2001). The evolution of the Sherman Act has provided a guide to the Courts to find the appropriate jurisdictional balance for its general Commerce Clause.
Some of the problems of the Articles of Confederation were congress had absolutely no power. When they wanted to raise tax, an army or even regulate the foreign trade they couldn’t. Congress had no power over the states to enforce the laws. The Constitution ended up giving Congress something we call today Enumerated Powers. An enumerated power is explained in the Constitution Article 1 Section 8 that are often called “expressed powers”.
Once Johnson was no longer in charge congress put into place the Civil Rights Act, an act that declared everyone who was born in the United states to be granted a citizen no matter their race or previous conditions. This meant all former slaves could become true legal citizens. Similarly, the 14th amendment made it so that each state was to give equal protection of the laws to everyone because it too declared all citizens were equal. This amendment also would not allow for confederate political leaders to hold positions and it would not forgive any debts of the confederacy. Following the civil rights act and the 14th amendment the 15th amendment and then another civil rights act were also put into effect.
The Fourteenth Amendment (Amendment XIV) The amendments were put into place to protect the rights and civil liberties of all American citizens from the federal government. However, prior to the fourteenth amendment, there was no certainty with the constitution. The constitution did not state in a clear enough way who was protected under it and exactly what rights you had as an American Citizen. The 14th amendment was in response to the just passed thirteenth amendment, which ended slavery in all of the southern states.
This will prove its importance because out of state consumers staying in the motel might be interstate commerce. Rolleston stated his opinion that the Commerce Clause had no jurisdiction to him and his business when choosing customers as a part of his argument (McClain, 2012). Another factor that should be included into the background of this case was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was past before this dispute
DBQ Essay The United States Constitution is a document that or founding fathers made in order to replace the failing Articles of Confederation (A of C). Under the Constitution, the current government and states don’t have the problems they faced when the A of C was in action. The Constitution was created in 1788, and held an idea that the whole nation was nervous about. This idea was a strong national government, and the Federalist assured the people that this new government would work. The framers of the Constitution decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments because the A of C had many problems, there was a need for the layout of new government, rights, and laws, and there was a need for the Federal
The most notable being the addition of three Amendments, the 13th, the 14th, and the 15th. These Amendments outlawed slavery, granted citizenship to all former slaves
The Constitution of the United States was formed 223 years ago. Since 1787, a lot has changed. We grew as a country, technology advanced, and we elected 43 different presidents. One of witch, being the first African-American President in history. Due to its age, some may argue that the Constitution is irrelevant to today’s problems.