A Lesson on the General Welfare Clause

11-19-09 • Tenth Amendment Center

In this podcast, Constitutional Scholar Rob Natelson offers a lesson on the general Welfare clause of the United States Constitution. He discusses the original meaning of the words themselves, the meaning of general welfare in the preamble, the original meaning and understanding of the clause, the taxing clause, the Hamiltonian vs the Madisonian view, anti-federalist concerns, modern interpretations, court cases which have turned its meaning upside down, practical reasons for a limiting view of the clause and the Constitution as a whole, and more.

1 Comments in Response to A Lesson on the General Welfare Clause

Comment by Jon Paul Mcclellan

Entered on: 11/20/2009 12:44:47 PM

I can’t find the term, "General Welfare" anywhere in the constitution except the preamble.

Can anyone tell me in which article, amendment or statute the words "General Welfare" are used and can you quote them?

Anything written in the constitution, in the amendments or in the statutes must be congruent with and support the purposes of the constitution written in the preamble. Otherwise they are unconstitutional.