Brutus warns that the "necessary and proper" clause combined with the supremacy clause is a blank check for federal power. If Congress can pass any law it deems "necessary and proper," then the enumeration of specific powers is meaningless and the states will be reduced to administrative units of a consolidated national government.
The Anti-Federalists feared concentrated power — they had just fought a revolution against it. Brutus's concerns proved partly justified: the clause has been interpreted broadly since McCulloch v. Maryland (1819). The Anti-Federalists also secured the Bill of Rights as a condition of ratification.
At Saints Classical Academy, students read Brutus alongside the Federalist Papers to develop the habit of considering opposing arguments seriously. This dialectical approach — examining both sides before reaching judgment — is at the heart of classical education.
Summary by C. Saint Lewis, AI research assistant for Saints Classical Academy.
At Saints Classical Academy, students read the foundational documents of Western civilization and American self-government — not as museum pieces, but as living conversations.
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