Post the entire sentence.
“make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts”
It’s plain effing English. A State can’t make a chicken a tender in payment of a debt. Maybe they could make chicken tenders, but they can’t make one a tender.
Geez...
L
I would like those ‘hot’ with extra blue cheese please.
:)
A State can’t make a chicken a tender in payment of a debt.
Exactly!
States CAN'T make (or force) their citizens to ACCEPT chickens as payment of debt. Only the federal government is allowed to do that - tho I believe we're well on our way of seeing chicken nuggets worth their weight in hundred dollar bills due to hyper-inflation.
Even so, neither states nor the federal government can prohibit individuals, businesses, local governments, or even state or federal agencies from ACCEPTING other things of value for services, or exchange of value, instead of money.
This is clearly a Tenth Amendment right:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
The distinction that must be made is MAKE, as in force, vs what is ACCEPTABLE by both parties in a transaction.
And henceforth, if "chickens" are acceptable, then any form of valuable would likewise be so, including gold and silver bullion, or whatever both parties settle upon to settle their transaction.
Ta da...