To you, that question probably sounds naive because the answer feels obvious. But in 1792, Thomas Jefferson saw it as the moment of truth.
Alexander Hamilton had just laid out his vision for the "general welfare" clause. His answer was simple. "The power... is ...indefinite."
To Jefferson and his allies, this was a scam. A complete betrayal of the constitutional system that was adopted.
The clash over the meaning of these two words — general Welfare — set the stage for what became the largest government in history.
HAMILTON: WITHOUT LIMITS
To begin this story, we first need to go back to December 5, 1791.
Alexander Hamilton just published his now-famous Report on the Subject of Manufactures. His goal was to stretch the "general Welfare" clause so far that it would authorize virtually unlimited power.
"the power to raise money is plenary, and indefinite; and the objects to which it may be appropriated are no less comprehensive, than the payment of the public debts and the providing for the common defence and ’general Welfare.’"
Hamilton admitted to only three exceptions. Taxes must be uniform across the Union. Direct taxes must be apportioned by census. And no export taxes from any state. Beyond that? Nothing.
"The phrase is as comprehensive as any that could have been used; because it was not fit that the constitutional authority of the Union, to appropriate its revenues shou’d have been restricted within narrower limits than the ’General Welfare.’"
Hamilton pushed the point even further, insisting that "general welfare" was so broad is couldn’t be defined.
"...and because this necessarily embraces a vast variety of particulars, which are susceptible neither of specification nor of definition."
That takes us directly to the text of the Constitution, and Article I, Section 8, Clause 1:
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;"
FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE ARTICLES
To understand the full context of this debate, we need to go back to July 1775, at the height of the American Revolution.
A year before the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin submitted his proposed plan for Articles of Confederation to the Continental Congress. It never came to a formal vote, but Franklin circulated copies among delegates to spark discussion on how to structure a union — something he had been pushing since his Albany Plan of 1754.
One of those copies survives today with Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten notes in the margins. On the last page, Jefferson zeroed in on a phrase that would haunt debates for decades.
"qu. what ’their mutual and general welfare’ means. There should be no vague terms in an instrument of this kind. It’s objects should be precisely and determinately fixed."
Jefferson’s concern was simple but profound. A constitutional charter could not leave room for elastic words that politicians might twist to justify limitless power.
When the Articles of Confederation were finally adopted a few years later, the phrase "general welfare" appeared twice — including this provision in Article VIII:
"All charges of war, and all other expenses that shall be incurred for the common defence or general welfare, and allowed by the united states in congress assembled, shall be defrayed out of a common treasury, which shall be supplied by the several states."
