Federalism Essay example

The Necessary and Proper Clause was an important addition to our federal government’s expansion. In fact, the Necessary and Proper clause was vital to our current government setting. With the expansion of the federal government we see that you can take ideas from different people, and compromise to come to a meeting point on important issues, like the expansion of ideas that needed to be readdressed, and changed.

The only way to manage faction is to remove its causes and to control its effects. By removing its causes Madison believes that liberty will be destroyed, or that by giving every citizen the same opinions, passions, and interests, would be impossible because people can never all be the same. Madison wanted the United States to be a republic, a form of democracy in which power is vested in representatives, so there will be a greater number of citizens represented and we will also be able to have more control over the factions effects.

However, the state of Maryland tried to block the activity of the national bank by imposing tax to all the notes that were issued. The branch manager of the bank in Baltimore refused to pay taxes and lawsuits were filed in the Maryland Court. However, the case was brought up to the U.S Supreme Court as the Constitution did not subjectively describe that Federal Government had the authority to establish a bank. The U.S Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Marshall ruled out the case that acknowledges that the Congress has the rights to establish a national bank under Article 1 Section 8 in the American Constitution. This shows that the US Constitution was vaguely described and gave the Congress an insight to pass laws as long as it is within the Constitution. However, this gave the Federal Government to create the mentality to indirectly gain more power which restricts the States sovereignty.

Federalism was the first guard against tyranny. The central government and states both had their own powers but also shared a few. They had trading, conducting foreign relations, declaring war, making immigration laws etc. Local state governments got elections, establishing schools, passing marriage and divorce laws, and regulating in-state business. “The different governments will control each other and at the same time it will be controlled by itself,” said James Madison in the federalist paper #51.

Federalism guards against tyranny by dividing the power between central and state governments. Some powers given to the central government are to regulate trade, to declare war, and etc. Powers given to the state government are to hold elections, establish schools, and etc. Both the state and central governments check each other to make sure one doesn’t get too much power.

Federalism can be said to be the defining feature of all forms of American politics. Even as a literary characteristic feature, America was the first nation to adopt federalism as a concept. Federalism is a system of government whereby political power is divided between a national government and other smaller political constituents such as states. Federalism, although not mentioned exactly in the constitution, was supposed to be a concept that addressed the errors of the confederation (Platt, 2014). It was also supposed to be the lay the groundwork for what would be the future of America. As it was expected to be, federalism has had an impact on the American politics even as far as elections are concerned. There were some key reasons that

Federalism was needed in the Constitution to make sure that the national government did not gain too much power. After the revolution, many people feared a monarchy or any form of government in which the central ruling body had

During the writing of the Constitution, the determination to not let one specific being control the new government was a must for success(Madison Excerpt 1). As stated by James Madison, tyranny was everyone’s main concern when establishing the layout of the United States government, but not all writers agreed on the thoughts of others. Once compromise was made, the Constitution developed many statements that guard the United States from tyranny by enforcing federalism, dividing powers, checking and keeping balance, and giving small states a voice when associated with larger states.

It was very important as it prevented one person or group from having too much power. James Madison’s (1788) article, Federalists paper #51, in Document A, describes federalism by stating that the power the people surrender is distributed between the two governments, state and federal. The amount of power given to each is further divided among distinct departments. Therefore, the “… different governments will control each other, at the same time … each will be controlled by itself” (Madison, 1788). As a result of federalism allowing each government to have control over the other, none had excessive power. Thus, the constitution developing federalism helped protect the nation from tyranny. In addition to James Madison’s article, Document A contains a Venn diagram extrapolated from various sources. It compares and contrasts the powers each, the federal and state government had. According to this diagram, both governments were clearly given important responsibilities. Hence, federalism distributing the power and errands between the two governments prevented one from feeling as if it is the most vital, which helped guard against tyranny. Generally speaking, federalism helped split the power between the two governments and put both under control. Thus, shielding the nation from tyranny. Equally important to the developing of federalism in the country, the constitution separating the power safeguarded the nation from tyranny, or

This in turn was allowing the Federalistic government to garner the majority of the American population and was leading to them being a strong, influential power over the people. Madison did not support these actions and expressed his dislike, demonstrating that he is an anti-federalist (Doc.

During Washington’s presidency, Jefferson and Madison’s views contradicted Hamilton’s Federalist ideals. For example, the Republicans believed in a small central government. Therefore, Jefferson initially viewed the Bank of the United States to be unconstitutional because it was beyond the power of the national government. (Doc A) Then in the Virginia Resolution, Madison describes the compact theory and how states have the right to limit the national government based on the constitution. (Doc C) On the other hand, Hamilton supported a strong central government that could enforce the law and uphold the constitution. (Doc B)

Madison’s conception of human nature reflected in Federalist 51 in many parts. In his opinion each branch should be mostly independent. And no one branch should have too much power to select the other member of two branches. According to him politicians are very ambitious and greedy for power and they can go any to extend to have that power. He held a cynical view of human nature as being power-hungry, selfish and self-interested politicians thirsty for power. He illustrates this nature of human by stating, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” (Federalist 51.) It describes that if the men were like angels then there would be no need of government to take control because everybody will think of others before them. And if angels where to govern men then there was to need for the check and balances over the government

Was an argument between McCulloch vs Maryland. The argument was a battle between whether the constitution allows a national government to run a bank. As well as does the constitution allow state governments to tax a national bank operating within its borders? However the Supreme Court ruled in favor of banks being able to be built and run by the national government. However they ruled that state governments are unable to tax a national bank that is within their borders.

The Supreme Court eventually decided that Maryland’s tax was unconstitutional since Article VI of the Constitution states that the federal government is supreme to state governments, and allowing the state to tax the federal bank would give the state too much power. The Supreme Court's decision impacted the balance of power in the government because Congress was now given both express and implied powers. Express powers are those that are clearly stated in the Constitution, while implied powers are those that are simply suggested as in the McCulloch v. Maryland case. John Marshall ruled that Congress had the implied power to create a National Bank. This ruling had a major impact on the government as it expanded the power of the federal government by allowing it to do what it deems necessary

Federalism is the division of powers between state and national governments. Federalism gave lower levels of government power that they did not have. The purpose of federalism is to give the people a sense of power, and essentially more liberty. However, it also allows a balance of power by giving states the rights to make their own laws, all while still recognizing the national government as superior.