Power Of The States example essay topic

Federalism The United States Government is beloved to all Americans, in the simple fact that all men are created equal and all men are given equal opportunity, to aspire to achieve success and make their dreams come true. Although the percentage of people who achieve all of their goals in life is fairly small, they have the freedom to chase them and America for the most part is a pretty content place. The "law of the land" that sets the standards for our rights and privileges is the U.S. Constitution. As pretty and proper as the U.S. Constitution sounds, there has always been and always will be some conflicts and concerns about different laws and amendments and even values that make a part of the sacred text of America. One of the major conflicts when writing the Constitution was power.

They weren't sure what to do with it, or how to handle it. America was so big with all different states a having all different values. America was not one, it was thirteen individual states who each wanted a piece of the power. This is where the idea of Federalism comes into play. The definition of Federalism goes as follows; Federalism is the philosophy that power should be divided between the central powers and all its constituents.

In other words the power of the United States should not all be in the hands of the national government, each state should have a say in the way that they want their own state to run. Every state wants to progress in a different way, and every state wants to progress at a different speed. However when problems get to large for a single state run government to handle, the national (federal) government will proceed to step in and set forth the necessary measures to control the situation. The founding fathers were quite concerned when writing the Constitution about what the breakdown of power should be. They did not want the central government to hold too much power like it had in England, but they needed a federal government stronger than the Articles of Confederation to keep the states together. When reading the Constitution you see many examples of compromises between the power of the federal government and the power of the states.

There are limits set on for states, limits set on Congress, and even limits set on the power of the President. For instance the Constitution states that the President has the power to overrule almost any decision, or matter that has to do with the United States, both in internal matters and foreign relations. However with all the power that the President possesses there are also many limits set on him, including the length of time he is allowed to hold his job. However the President who runs the entire country, is appointed by the states. This power and compromise is also included amongst the Congress. Each state appoints members of the legislature.

Each state gets an equal numbers of electors in the Senate and the House of Representatives. The President is also required to take an oath before he takes over in office. "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, 1'protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States". Adams had the brilliant idea of Checks & Balances where he broke the government into three branches; the president, Congress, and the judiciary.

Each of them had power but no one branch would be allowed to enjoy a monopoly of power. However when problems did occur each branch was allowed to put their two cents in and try to resolve whatever conflict that arose. However there are times when the Constitution puts its foot down, and prohibits power of the states. A big example of this is Article 1, Section 10. It lists all powers prohibited of the states including, entering into treaties, imposts on imports and exports, or make any compacts with another state, or foreign power. Also in times of war if there is a draft, a drafted member must enter the service and fulfill his civil duty to the United States of America or he will be jailed, fined, and worst of all be labeled a draft dodger and coward.

In Federalist 10, Madison felt it was necessary to separate the federalists from the anti-federalists. He felt that the anti-federalist belief that a "good" republic was a "small" republic was incorrect. Because in a small republic single majority would have the ability to dominate a minority and deprive it rights and privileges, as is what happened during Shay's Rebellion while the Articles of Confederation were the laws of the land. In the 1780's it seemed like almost everybody was in debt, so the government tried to fight this economic depression A military war hero by the name of Daniel Shays started a rebellion attempting to forcibly close all debtor courts. So Daniel Shays and his rebels attacked Bunker Hill. The State Government put together a powerful set of troops and was able to hand Shays and his rebels defeat however, Shays efforts did not go unnoticed.

Shays rebellion got great aid from such heroes as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison. Although Jefferson firmly disagreed with the rebellion, these men were rebelling were not common criminals, they weren't even average men, they were heroes of war trying to protect the welfare of their families and homes. In Federalist 51 two independent branches of government were created executive, and judiciary. Each branch was give quite sufficient power, and the right to get involved in each others matters. This also gave the Senate the final approval over any presidential decision regards to electing embers of the Supreme Court, and members of the cabinet. This also gives the House of Representatives the power to determine whether a judge, executive official, or president should be impeached.

Also the Senate was given the majority rule over any treaty that has been negotiated by the president. In order for the treaty to be ratified it must be done by at least a two-thirds vote by the Senate. This did also give the President a bit of power himself. He was now allowed the power to veto legislation.

In conclusion the idea of Federalism is both very prevalent and very necessary to the way America functions. It was ratified in 1781 and is still used as the law of the land to date. Every facet of life is largely based on compromise, whether it is a relationship both friend, family, and lover, or on the job, or even with yourself. Sometimes you just have to meet in the middle, and sometime somebody needs to have more power so everything works out for the best. That's what Federalism is all about, balancing the power between the federal government and the states.

The United States is not a dictatorship or run by tyranny, everyone including the normal citizens of America have the freedom to have a say and speak out about what's best, however leaders are necessary. All this is covered in the Constitution under the laws and regulations of Federalism.