Certain military powers granted to the Federal Government involve declaring war, raising and supporting armies, regulating and maintaining navies, and calling forth the militia. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution stipulates, “The Congress shall have power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water; to raise and support armies, to provide and maintain a Navy; to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces; to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions; to provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia” With these powers, the Federal Government can not only protect the land and provide guarantee for the development of the country, but also create conditions to invade other countries on the grounds that it has the power to declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal. The framers of the U.S. Constitution regarded the military power of the Federal Government as a tool to protect the domestic interests of their country from foreign invasion. John Jay, one of the three writers of “The Federalist Papers” and the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, even said that when a country wanted to gain something, it would engage itself in a war. Most representatives in the Constitutional Convention had realized that when the United States broke up, it would easily become a sacrifice to its neighboring and enemy states. They saw that other countries still threatened the security of the United States. The Great Britain was unwilling to secede from America and kept military bases in the Northwest boundary of the United States. At the same time, France blockaded some important river mouths so that it could monopolize the market, and Spain also tried to blockade the Mississippi River. The European powers did not want the United States to develop into a powerful nation, or to share their market, neither in the United States itself nor abroad. The framers of the U.S. Constitution fully realized that a strong navy and land force could become not only a tool to protect the interests of the United States, but also a tool to force other countries to open their markets. A strong army would definitely make the European countries respect their country. Apart from the foreign troubles, the leaders of the United States had also seen the serious influences of clashes between different classes. They believed that in time of trouble, a strong army would be decisive. Of course, they would not ignore the danger of such domestic rebellions as Shays’ Rebellion. When talking about the danger of rebellions, James Madison said, “I have noticed a kind of unhappy people scattered in some states. They degrade under the human standard when the political situation remains steady; but when the society is in chaos, they would provide their fellow people with a great force.” (Smith 1986:194) So the rulers of the country needed a strong army to suppress the revolt of these “unhappy people”, and to maintain a stable domestic political situation. The U.S. Constitution grants so many specific powers to the Federal Government, at the same time, lists a rather large number of things that the Federal Government is not allowed to do. Evidently, the framers were afraid that too strong a central government would easily bring about autocracy. In order to restrict the authority of the central government, the framers wanted to make it clear in the Constitution that certain powers were emphatically denied to the Federal Government.
