Question

Describe the historical context surrounding documents 1 and 2

Document 1
Article 1 Section 8
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
a. To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
b. To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several states, and with the Indian Tribes;
c. To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies
d. To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and

Measures;
a. To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
b. To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
c. To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department of Officer thereof (Source: Constitution of the United States of America, 1787)



Document 2
This letter was written in response to a request from President Washington as to how he should address
the debate over the Constitutionality of the National Bank. The bank does have constitutional basis when closely examining the commerce powers as outlined in the Constitution...the bank as it proposed will be the receiver of all taxes collected...accordingly it is affirmed that the bank has a relation, more or less direct, to the power of collecting taxes; to that of borrowing and lending money; to that of regulating trade between the states, all of which are outlined as powers of Congress in article one of the US Constitution. And in the last place, it will be argued, that it is clearly within the provision which authorizes the making of all needed rules and regulations concerning the property of the United States.... The only question must be in this, as in every other case, whether the mean to be employed or in this instance, the corporation to be erected, has a natural relation to any of the acknowledged objects or lawful ends of the government. Thus a corporation may not be erected by Congress for superintending the police of the city of Philadelphia, because they are not authorized to regulate the police of that city. But one may be erected in relation to the collection of taxes, or to the trade with foreign countries, or to the trade between the States, or with the Indian tribes; because it is the
province of the federal government to regulate those objects, and because it is incident to a general sovereign or legislative power to regulate a thing, to employ all the means which relate to its regulation to the best and greatest advantage.(Source: Secretary of Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, to President Washington, 1791)

Answer 1

The documents are set in the context of early debates over the extent of Congressional power under the U.S. Constitution, specifically regarding taxation and the establishment of a national bank, which was later affirmed by the Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland using the necessary and proper clause.

Step-by-step explanation:

The historical context surrounding Document 1, which is Article 1 Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, and Document 2, a letter written by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to President Washington, centers on the powers of Congress and the debate over the constitutionality of the national bank. Hamilton's arguments, put forth in the context of the debates over how the federal government should operate under the new Constitution, support the broad interpretation of the Congress's powers, including tax collection, borrowing money, regulating commerce, and establishing a federal bank. The historical backdrop includes fears over anarchy and despotism, as well as the struggle to balance power between national and state governments.

In McCulloch v. Maryland, the Supreme Court would later uphold the broad interpretation of Congress's powers under the necessary and proper clause. This affirmed the federal government's authority to take actions not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution if they are necessary to execute its enumerated powers, which includes the establishment of a national bank to support these functions.