Privileges And Immunities Clause Analysis

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The late eighteenth century was a time filled with much government reform throughout America with the creation of vital documents such as the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights. Through a few centuries of buffer, it is often forgotten what some of these political changes are meant to revise. Some of these changes, like ones found in the Constitution, have proven extremely helpful in the molding of the nation we live in today, changes such as the Privileges and Immunities clause. The Privileges and Immunities clause is one clause meant to protect the rights of individuals by guarding their personal rights while in the different states of the country. The Privileges and Immunities clause is found in Article IV Section 2 of the Constitution and it states, “The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.” This clause was made to keep traveling individuals from becoming discriminated against by the people owning that land. The clause would give these visitors the same rights as the rights they would have in their home state. James Madison’s explanation of the Privileges and Immunities clause in …show more content…

Said clause was meant to keeps the states unified but mainly through commerce and trade so that these traders could visit a state and have the ability to buy and sell without a special grant from the host-state. The writers of the constitution preemptively added this clause to fight the feared possibility of interstate commerce, or any other form of mercantilism, where the members of that state would only trade with members from their home in order to dramatically boost their economy and dampen that of the rival states, and anybody trying to sell from outside of the state would possibly be taxed or even prohibited to