MADISONCENTER FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
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The constitutional text

Article I · Section 10

Select any highlighted phrase to understand what it means.

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Source: National Constitution Center edition. Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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202 elements · 219 connections · One constitutional systemOpen the reader
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You don’t have to understand everything at once. One connection is a good beginning.

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Article I, Section 10, Clause 1a

States cannot make their own treaties or alliances

Current text
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation;

What it means

No state may enter a treaty, alliance, or confederation. These prohibited arrangements are distinct from certain agreements and compacts addressed later under a congressional-consent framework.

Historical setting

The Articles permitted some state foreign arrangements with national consent. The Constitution strengthens the prohibition on separate state treaty relationships to protect the Union’s common external position.

What it does

A state cannot independently bind the United States to a military alliance or create a rival confederation. Cooperative arrangements require attention to their substance and to the separate constitutional rule for compacts.

Debate & interpretation

The allocation reduces the danger that one state’s commitments will draw all states into conflict. It also limits states that may have legitimate cross-border interests, requiring them to pursue those interests through permitted legal forms.

A common misreading

Congressional consent under the Compact Clause should not be treated as a blanket permission for a state to create any treaty or alliance it wants.

Think it through

Why would a union be unstable if each member state could make conflicting military promises to foreign powers?

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Sources & further reading

Original Madison Center commentary. Explanations distinguish the text, historical context, and interpretive disagreements.

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