Preview

Federalism: United States Constitution

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
411 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Federalism: United States Constitution
American History
December 8, 2007

Debate On Federalism
The United States constitution created a new type of government called federalism, which divided power between the states and the national government. But the proper balance of federalism has been debated throughout the history of the United States, Federalism, which signifies members of a group that are bond together with a governing representative head. Two time periods that there has been a debate on federalism was the Supreme Court under John Marshall in (1801- 1835) and the extension of slavery in (1820-1860). During the time period in which Supreme Court was under the rule of John Marshall the power of judicial branch was greatly strengthened. The decision of the Supreme Court in McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819, states could not tax federal institutions and upheld by congressional authority to create the Second Bank of the United States, even though the authority to do this was not expressly stated in the Constitution. This decision made stronger the federal supremacy and national economic interests. Also the debate between Federalist and Anti-Federalists over approval demonstrated the existence of differences of opinion on government. The formation of political parties led to constitutional changes in the method of electing the president, which is today voting. The second debate is the extension of slavery that was a series of Lincoln-Douglas Debates. In Illinois, in (1858) Lincoln who was a republican was challenged by a senator named Stephen A. Douglas, in the campaign for U.S Senate. These debates were detained and Douglas became the senator but the debates hurt Douglas in the south while it made Lincoln a national political figure because it was unacceptable to the south because of his position against the extension of slavery. The south believed that slaves were important to life that they were here to serve the whites but the north opposed this the north believed that everyone should be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The evolution of Federalism in the United States was a gradual event that had definitions of federal government being given in federalist 46 and 28 which gave definitions of a federalist government to the United States. As stated by James Madison one of the architects of the federal kind of government, “the state and national governments are in fact but different agents and trustees of the people, constituted with different powers." The purpose of such a kind of government was to protect the rights of the people in all its earnestness.…

    • 828 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    MidTerm Essay The Constitution divided the powers between the Federal,State and Local governments in a very specific way. Which we now call Federalism,but before this we had the Articles of Confederation. The reason we did not keep the Articles of Confederation was because it was to weak and gave too much power to the states. But it did set up a foundation which helped bring us the division of powers between Federal,local and state governments.…

    • 309 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Constitution DBQ

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    At the end of the American Revolution, the free states needed some sort of control that would generate to a unified country. Issues arose to how power should be divided between local and national governments, common laws or the protection of the unalienable individual rights. Their first attempt at solving this issue was the Articles of Confederation, which was a failure for the most part, but not completely as it formed a template for a new document. After the failure of the articles, the state delegates tried to revise the articles, but instead, constructed the Constitution. One of many distinction between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution is the creation of the legislature. Representation of one state, while disregarding the population of the state, angered many people. The Constitution is known today as the foundation of American government. But before its ratification, debates arose regarding several unresolved and problematic factors that the Articles of Confederation failed to come to a resolution. Under the Articles of Confederation, the states had far more power than did the federal government. As a result, when writing the Constitution, they sought to maintain balance between state and federal power in a way where it would benefit the nation, shifting the power to the federal government. Slavery was never mentioned in the articles, yet the North and the South began a dispute over its existence. Alongside the creation of legislature defining distinction between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution, the division of power between state and federal government and the existence and purpose of slavery are issues debated prior to the ratification of the Constitution.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mcculloch Vs Maryland

    • 1811 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The decisions made in McCulloch v. Maryland recognized and explained to the United States the nation’s need for a strong central government. After fighting in the War of 1812, the United States of America experienced a significant amount of disarray and difficulty without a bank to supervise the country’s finances and to provide a reliable institution that the population could depend on amidst all the chaos. Alexander Hamilton’s idea of a national bank would serve the purpose of providing one common institution that could help the entire country through its difficult times, but first the federal government needed to exercise supreme power over the state governments in order to ever possibly complete that task. While the federal government and…

    • 1811 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Federalism, as defined by The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “the distribution of power in an organization (as a government) between a central authority and the constituent units”. A more basic definition of federalism is the sharing of power between the national government and the State government. The Federalist Party is thought to have been started by Alexander Hamilton in an attempt to form a strong central government. Today, there have been two types of federalism, dual and cooperative. Dual Federalism was the first of the two and it lasted about one hundred and fifty years ranging from the 1780’s to the 1930’s. Cooperative Federalism then began in the 1930’s and lasted until the 1970’s. I feel as if dual federalism was good for its time period but I believe it would cause harm in today’s society.…

    • 667 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858 was a very influential event that occurred in American history and has much significance, even till this day. The debates were in contest for the United States Senate seat in Illinois. The main topic involved in the debates was based around slavery and the separation of the union because of it. Both Lincoln and Douglas refer to the U.S. Constitution in their remarks and state different opinions surrounding what they interpret the meaning of certain parts regarding slavery to be.…

    • 967 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As the United States approached the Civil War, political division among the North and South only grew, with the two regions continuing to argue over states rights, specifically the right to permit slavery within their borders. By the end of the 1850s, two politicians named Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln had made waves among the American public with their debates over the expansion and abolition of slavery. While the campaigning for political office was already a common practice among politicians at the time, the back and forth debating style as well as the sheer volume of attendees was unprecedented in any previous American campaign. Thus the Lincoln-Douglas debates illustrated a shift in the way political campaigns for office were conducted in the United States that drastically contrasted with older election formats. Prior to the Civil War were a multitude of events that contributed to the change in campaign style.…

    • 900 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    political party dbq

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In 1787 there was an issue of ratifying a new constitution. This new constitution was in favor of a “national” government which gave more power to the national government and less to the states, strong single person executive, establishment of the Supreme Court, and more economic power for Congress. The political parties that were made dud to this were the Federalist’s and the Anti-Federalist’s. The Federalists favored the constitution and it’s division of power.…

    • 668 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    We Federalist’s believe that the government needs to be divided into three parts, with equal powers and balances and checks, for it to work effectively. Now the Anti-Federalist’s believe that we are trying to give all power to the larger states in the North and ignore the needs of our brethren the South states. We are not. We are just trying to create a fair government.…

    • 565 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the heels of the revolutionary war and the failed attempt of a national government (The Articles of Confederation), the leaders of the United States set to make a stronger, centralized government, with dual sovereignty between the national government and the states. The rules of this governing body would be laid out in a document called the Constitution. Although most leaders supported the constitution they did not agree on many aspects of it. Out of the disagreement two groups emerged, the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist supported all aspects of the constitution and a larger national government, while the Anti-Federalist opposed ratifying the constitution and supported a smaller national government and more sovereignty to the states. This disagreement led to a fierce debate between the two groups that still resonates today. This essay will examine the primary…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Appointed in 1801 by President John Adams, Marshall served the highest judicial role for over 34 years. Marbury v. Madison (1803) was the first case where Marshall used judicial review to structure judicial power over Congress by having a broad, Federalist interpretation of the Constitution. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) was the first case in which Marshall structured the Congressional power that the Constitution offers. In the court’s decision, it said, “let the ends be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adopted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional." The court based their decision on Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution which states, “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises… but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.” This landmark decision by the Marshall court would help stress the idea of economic development by allowing the establishment of a second United States Bank which would continue the role of a national banks that Hamilton proposed. The Marshall court also ruled on Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) which was the first case that structures governmental power of state. This decision allowed for Congress to have authority and control over the development of interstate commerce. These three cases allowed for the Federalist viewpoint to linger through the verdicts of the Marshall…

    • 932 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Federalism Dbq

    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages

    The federalist papers written by James Madison, proposes logical suggestions for the creation of a government, that fits the need of the nation. Federalist paper 10 primarily concerns with the harmful effects of factions.(Madison James,”The federalist no.10” .1787, A21)A faction is a group with a distinct political interests.(Wilson, James Q. and Dilulio, John J. “the essentials American Government, institutions and policies”, 12th edition, page 32) Factions can be compromised by a majority or minority of people, aiming for a common goal. Hence, factions must be controlled, since the goal might be contrary to the interests of other people, thereby affecting their individual liberties. Factions cause instability in the government. There are…

    • 1800 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Supreme Court Models

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One of the most popular court cases is McCulloch v. Maryland. In 1819 there wasn’t much judicial power because the Supreme Courts were still getting settled in, and the public was still skeptical in weather they could trust them or not. The McCulloch v. Maryland court case was in the Marshall Court. John Marshall was the chief justice at this time and he is the one who made the Supreme Court a serious player in government. Marshall Court had a pattern of expanding national power. “The decision in McCulloch v. Maryland expanded national power in two ways…” (Geer, Schiller, Segal, and Herrara 2016) The decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, allowed the national government to the right to create a bank. This decision limited state power by, “denying the states the authority to tax activities of the national government.” (Geer, Schiller, Segal, and Herrara 2016) The decision of the court was justified by their interpretation of the Constitution. “In a unanimous opinion written by Chief Justice Marshall, the Court ruled that the Bank of the United States was constitutional and that the Maryland tax was unconstitutional. Concerning the power of Congress to charter a bank, the Court turned to the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, Section 8, which expressly grants Congress the power to pass laws "necessary and proper" for the execution of its "enumerated powers."” (McBride 2006) This court case is one of the most important because it established the ways the Supreme Court…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Marshall Court Federalism

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The progression of the government is seen widely throughout American History. The changes are at times gradual, but with spurts of inclining or declining effects. The events from the past shape the future for all people, even if they are thought to be outside the circle of effects. From the Civil Rights Movement to Supreme Court’s decisions in the Brown v. Board of Education case. Federalism under the Marshall Courts serves significance, because it contributed to the evolution and the representation of the branches of the government while shaping the ideology of a traditional government.…

    • 925 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Federalism played a crucial part in curtailing government action during the Jacksonian era. Around that time, a states’ right coalition developed in Congress, a group of individuals supporting greater rights for the state government. Members of the states’ right coalition, often an appointed senator, used the coalition group to safeguard the power they held in their state. This particularly benefited Southern states that wanted to maintain the institution of slavery. The states’ right coalition dominated congress, their influence in congress affected the presidential elections and forced a nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution. And one of the most noticeable ways that they did this was with cases concerning the commerce clause. The…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays