The Bonus Bill of 1817 was proposed legislation introduced by John C. Calhoun to provide a federal highway linking the East and South to the West using the earnings bonus from the Second Bank of the United States. Opponents feared that providing the means for settlers to travel would drain their population and create competing states in the area obtained in the Louisiana Purchase. Though he approved of the goals, President James Madison vetoed the bill as unconstitutional under strict constructionist ideals.
Madison's veto message represents an important explication of the Constitution by the "Father of the Constitution."