Introduction Federalism, or the relationship between state and federal government, is an issue that has plagued our country since its birth. When creating state governments many states did not give the executive branch much power, in fact our first guiding document left little to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation were formed and the very words painted a state retains its sovereignty, picture, “each freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated" ( Section 2, Articles of Confederation). The colonists feared a strong and unified central government, the very reason the revolution began. Due to this fear they created their new government with a weak central body. A few years after the passage of the Articles of Confederation it was clear that this document did not allow for a strong country, especially in economic terms. The issue with the Articles of Confederation was that each state had control over its own commerce and this led to various amounts of debt from states and the Confederation Congress. When it came to paying back these debts the lack of a central entity to deal with the country as a whole became a considerable issue. The Constitution was the next step, but getting there would not be easy. While the Constitution was being drafted there was a divide, the sides were known as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong central government, in order to unite the country and be stronger on an international level. The Anti-Federalists still held onto their fear of monarchy, therefore they wanted to give the majority of the power to the individual states. This conflict became evident in the authorship of the Federalist Papers as well as the Anti-Federalist Papers. These
Introduction Federalism, or the relationship between state and federal government, is an issue that has plagued our country since its birth. When creating state governments many states did not give the executive branch much power, in fact our first guiding document left little to the federal government. The Articles of Confederation were formed and the very words painted a picture, “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated" ( Section 2, Articles of Confederation). The colonists feared a strong and unified central government, the very reason the revolution began. Due to this fear they created their new government with a weak central body. A few years after the passage of the Articles of Confederation it was clear that this document did not allow for a strong country, especially in economic terms. The issue with the Articles of Confederation was that each state had control over its own commerce and this led to various amounts of debt from states and the Confederation Congress. When it came to paying back these debts the lack of a central entity to deal with the country as a whole became a considerable issue. The Constitution was the next step, but getting there would not be easy. While the Constitution was being drafted there was a divide, the sides were known as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Federalists wanted a strong central government, in order to unite the country and be stronger on an international level. The Anti-Federalists still held onto their fear of monarchy, therefore they wanted to give the majority of the power to the individual states. This conflict became evident in the authorship of the Federalist Papers as well as the Anti-Federalist Papers. These
Gallaghert_Thesis_Complete.docx