Economics
With respect to interstate trade, Gary M. Walton and James F. Shepherd suggest “the possibility of such barriers to interstate commerce loomed as a threat until the Constitution specifically granted the regulation of interstate commerce to the federal government”. Walton and Shepherd conclude that the most important changes associated with the Constitution “were those changes that strengthened the framework for protection of private property and enforcement of contracts”. These changes were most important because they increased the benefits of exchange (the cornerstone of a market economy) and created incentives for individuals to specialize in economic activities in which they had a particular advantage and then engage in mutually advantageous exchange (trade) with individuals specializing in other economic activities. Specific provisions in the Constitution that helped to increase the benefits of exchange were those that prohibited the national and state governments from enacting ex-post-facto laws (retroactive laws) and a provision that prohibited the state governments from passing any “law impairing the obligation of contracts.” These prohibitions were important to the development of a market economy because they constrained governments from interfering in economic exchange, making the returns to economic activity more secure.
Because the economies of the thirteen states were not highly interconnected in the 1780s, the immediate consequences for the nation of adopting the Constitution were not at all large. But the change in our fundamental political institution was ultimately to have a profound influence on our nation’s history, because the Constitution over time became the foundation of the supremacy of the national government in the United States.
Because the economies of the thirteen states were not highly interconnected in the 1780s, the immediate consequences for the nation of adopting the Constitution were not at all large. But the change in our fundamental political institution was ultimately to have a profound influence on our nation’s history, because the Constitution over time became the foundation of the supremacy of the national government in the United States.