In 1919 an Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, the United States.
A Nineteenth Amendment was adopted in 1920. This declared that the right to vote shall not be denied to any citizen of the United States on account of sex.
506. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES THROUGH JUDICIAL INTERPRETATION.—The Federal Constitution has also been modified and developed by judicial interpretation. The United States Supreme Court has maintained that the Federal government possesses not only those powers expressly granted by the Constitution, but also those powers which are included with, or implied from, powers expressly granted. This liberal construction is authorized by the Constitution itself, for the last clause in Section VIII of Article One of that document declares that Congress shall have power to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution" its enumerated powers. Under this doctrine of implied powers, the influence of the National government has been markedly extended, chiefly with regard to the war power, the power to regulate interstate commerce, and the power to levy taxes and borrow money.
507. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES THROUGH USAGE.—The Federal Constitution has also been modified by the force of custom and political practices. Examples of the power of usage to modify the Constitution are numerous, but a few will suffice to illustrate the principle. Custom has limited the President of the United States to two terms. In conformity with a long-established custom, Presidential electors do not exercise independent judgment, but merely register the vote of their respective constituents. Though the Constitution provides that the appointive power of the President shall be exercised with the advice and consent of the Senate, custom virtually prohibits the Senate from challenging the President's Cabinet appointments. On the other hand, many executive appointments of minor importance are determined solely by members of Congress. Usage decrees that the President alone may remove officers which he has appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate. Lastly, the legislative committee system, as well as the entire machinery of the political party, is the outcome of custom. Concerning these important instruments of practical politics, the Constitution is silent.
QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT
1. Point out some similarities among the American colonial governments.
2. Describe some of the earlier attempts at union.
3. What was the nature of the Confederation government?
4. For what specific purpose was the Constitutional Convention convened?
5. What was the Virginia plan? The New Jersey plan?