‘..prevented the political monopolies .. no power to issue paper currency.’
‘To prevent the larger, wealthier, or more populous states from throwing their weight against smaller states, their representation as states was made equal. To prevent the smaller or poorer states from ganging up and fleecing the more opulent states—throwing their joint weight—the popular representation was made proportionate to the number of citizens. To prevent the central authority from mulcting the wealthy states in order to buy out poor states, it was provided that Federal taxation imposed upon persons could be levied only in proportion to population; while taxes on goods (tariffs, excise duties, imposts) must be uniform throughout the United States. That is, no favor could be shown to any one state in respect of manufactures, port dues, or the like. This prevented the political monopolies which were the bane of Europe. And the states could not impose port or border tariffs at all.
The several states were forbidden to coin money or emit paper currency (“bills of credit”), or to make anything but gold and silver legal tender. Therefore the transmission line of energy could not be cut or tapped by the political agency of any state. And the Federal government was given no power to issue paper currency. Though it has done so, the authority is not in the Constitution, while it is expressly stated in the Constitution that powers not delegated to the Federal authority are reserved from it. Neither is the Federal government granted any power to impair contracts, though it has lately done so; while the states were forbidden in set terms.’
– Isabel Paterson, The God of the Machine, page 132