The Age of Strict Construction : The Catholic University of America Press : 9780813227122 : 0813227127 : 30 Apr 2014 : The Age of Strict Construction explores the growth of the federal government's power and influence between 1789 and 1861, and the varying reactions of Americans to that growth. The book focuses on the dispute over the spending power of Congress, the Supreme Court's expansion of the Contract Clause, and the centralizing effects of the Jacksonian spoils system. The book also surveys the conflict over constitutional interpretation?originalism v. textualism?that has divided Americans from the time of the dispute over the first Bank of the United States until the present day. The standard interpretation of American history holds that the federal government remained a weak and passive creature until the New Deal. The Age of Strict Construction argues that this interpretation is not valid?if measured against the original understanding of the powers of Congress and the Supre