Abstract
A RTICLE I, Section io, of the United States Constitution declares that no state shall enter into Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make Thing but gold and Coin Tender in Payment of Debts; pass Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant Title of Nobility. One portion of that section, the prohibition on states passing laws that impair the obligation of contracts, has proven particularly important in American constitutional history and in the development of American federalism.' Few men at the time of the adoption of the Constitution foresaw this crucial role for the contract clause. It attracted little comment during the ratification debate, while those who did consider it usually linked it with the companion prohibition on bills of credit or the ban on any Thing but gold and silver being made a Tender in Payment of Debts.2 They made this connection because during the Confederation debtors in some states used depreciated paper money to pay their obligations. This action, sanctioned by various states that declared their
Published Version
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