Article 1, Section 8, Clause 13

Document 1

Records of the Federal Convention

[2:143, 158, 168; Committee of Detail]

5. To make war . . . & equip Fleets.

. . . . .

The Legislature of U.S. shall have the exclusive Power-- . . . of equiping a Navy--

. . . . .

. . . to build and equip Fleets . . .

[2:330; Madison, 18 Aug.]

Instead of "to build and equip fleets"--"to provide & maintain a navy" agreed to nem. con as a more convenient definition of the power.

[2:570, 595; Committee of Style]

To provide & maintain a navy;

The Founders' Constitution
Volume 3, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 13, Document 1
http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/a1_8_13s1.html
The University of Chicago Press

Farrand, Max, ed. The Records of the Federal Convention of 1787. Rev. ed. 4 vols. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1937.