MADISONCENTER FOR AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
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The Constitution,
connected.

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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 Original wording is preserved; commentary explains historical and superseded provisions.

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You don’t have to understand everything at once. One connection is a good beginning.

LOOK A LITTLE CLOSER

Article I, Section 10, Clause 3b

Limits on separate peacetime forces

Current text
keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace,

What it means

States need congressional consent to keep troops or ships of war in peacetime. The rule limits independent military establishments while other clauses preserve specified state militia responsibilities.

Historical setting

The Articles also constrained state peacetime forces while recognizing militia preparation. The Constitution strengthens national defense authority without treating every state military function as forbidden.

What it does

A reader must distinguish the force and legal arrangement at issue rather than assume the clause abolishes militias or all modern state military institutions. Congressional consent is an explicit route for the covered activity.

Debate & interpretation

The danger addressed is military rivalry among states and separate force structures that undermine the Union. The continuing policy problem is how to combine local emergency capacity with national control of matters that could produce interstate or foreign conflict.

A common misreading

This provision does not erase the state appointment and training roles expressly preserved in the militia clauses.

Think it through

Why might a union tolerate locally organized militia functions while restricting separate standing forces?

Follow the connection

Sources & further reading

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

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