The Constitutional Basis Of Federalism

    The supremacy clause states that the United States Constitution, treaties, federal laws, and federal regulations are the supreme law of the land, if this didn’t exist then states would have more power over the federal government.

Article VI, Clause 2 (National Supremacy Clause) – The Federal Government, in expressing any of the powers

When the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution in 1787, the United States just had 13 states. The Founding Fathers believed that more states would want to join the Union in the future. They saw that it would be significant for new states to have the same form of government as the original states had. Since then there are now over 50 states that have similar characteristics which were developed centuries ago; although, resembling the creation of new ideas and inventions, current state government had many problems from being the way it is today, it also has many important features that benefit many people, as well as plays an important role in how American democracy and government works.

The Framers of the United States Constitution ultimately decided to give more power to the Federal government rather than the state governments for many reasons. There were many problems with the articles that caused instability in the government, and even a rebellion. Then there’s the Federal government who lacked powers to do anything much because the people were too scared to make the Federal government strong. Lastly, there was the State government who had either too much power or they had power that the Federal government should have. There were a lot of problems with the Articles that needed to be addressed , most of which were addressed.

The Supremacy Clause is a statement in the US Constitution that says that “the laws of the United States… shall be the supreme law of the land.” This was created to resolve any disputes among laws of the states and of the nation. The supremacy

Federalism helped to protect against tyranny by dividing the power between two governments: states and federal. According to James Madison, Founding Father, “The different governments will each control each other, at the same time that each will be controlled by itself.” This quote, from the text Federalist Paper #51 refers to how the state and federal have individual responsibilities, but are also connected enough to keep other’s powers in check. This quote reminds the readers that the Constitution formed the separate state and federal governments to provide a double security against tyranny by splitting the power between two governments, making sure that the decisions made were the best for the citizens. Ultimately, federalism prevented tyranny by separating the power between two governments, which guarded against a possible tyranny in the

James Madison penned Federalist Paper No. 45: The Alleged Danger From the Powers of the Union to the State Governments. Madison’s reason for writing this particular paper is to convince the states that ratifying the Constitution will not take away all of their power. Throughout his paper Madison constantly reiterates how the Constitution makes it a point that the state legislatures will be directly involved in the process of electing those who would run the federal government. “Without the intervention of the State legislatures, the President of the United States cannot be elected at all” (Madison 45). He clearly states the point

shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of

11. Which clause states that the Constitution, and federal statutes and treaties, shall be the supreme law of the land.

The federal government, under the Articles, was too weak to enforce their power. The major weakness of the Articles were the following: each state only had one vote in Congress, regardless of size; congress did not have the power to tax; congress did not have power to regulate foreign and interstate commerce; there was no executive branch to enforce any acts passed by congress; thee was no national court system or judicial branch; amendments to the Articles required a unanimous vote; laws required 9/13 majority to pass in Congress; and states could levy tariffs on other states’ goods. This means that, under the Articles, each state viewed its own sovereignty and power as paramount to the national good, which led to conflicts between them. States didn’t support the national government financially, each state

The individual states had quite a bit of power. It says how the states are in charge of supplying money to a national government treasury. (How much money you put in depends on how big or small your state is). The states had to agree upon taxes for paying for warfare as well, the national government hadn't just forced these ideas upon them. (Article VIII Section 15-18).

The Constitution of the United States of America, and its powers within, is supposed to support the overall liberty of our nation. In 1798, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson sought to fight for the states right to nullify laws that they deemed unconstitutional. This fight was spurred by the Alien and Sedation Acts which were “considered unconstitutional because they infringed on the reserved powers of the states” (“Virginia and Kentucky resolutions,” n.d., para. 2). The language in these resolutions was later brought to light in 1832 in support of the nullification position taken by South Carolina pertaining to the high tariffs on imports that the government imposed. In the end, the fight for states’ rights was neutralized by the Force

-Amendment number ten states that the powers not specifically delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states.

The 10th amendment gives each state the power where the federal government does not have it. This is important for maintaining a unified nation because if the majority votes on an act or bill then the majority will be happy. However, this amendment has a history of being taken advantage of to justify immoral issues such as segregation in the Southern states during the times of slavery. Following the ratification of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights was created to clarify the limitations the federal government had over the 50 states.

Implied powers are powers that are given to Congress by the Constitution in which they have the power to make any law that is necessary and proper for conveying the foregoing powers. Reserved powers fall under the tenth amendment, and their purpose is to reserve powers to the states. Concurrent Powers are the powers that both the national and state governments have such as the power to retain power for the regulation of commerce.