Download The Federal System Connects the Nation and the States (HA)

The Federal System Connects the Nation and the States (HA)
Article I of the Constitution gives the national government sole authority to print and coin money.
The framers of the Constitution wanted a strong national government, but they also wanted the states to keep significant powers. They
accomplished both goals by creating a federal system of government in which power is shared between the national and state
governments.
Powers Belonging to the National Government The Constitution gives some powers only to the national government. In
general, these are powers best exercised by one central authority, such as declaring war and making treaties. The Constitution
also says that only the national government can print and coin money. The framers had learned from experience that separate state
currencies made no sense.
Similarly, Article I gives Congress the power “to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the
Indian Tribes.” Known as the commerce clause, this provision gives the national government the power to regulate interstate
commerce [interstate commerce: trade and other business dealings between two or more states] . For example, a state cannot try
to protect its own businesses and industries by taxing goods imported from other states. Under the Articles of Confederation, many
states had done just that. As a result, interstate trade threatened to grind to a halt. In effect, the commerce clause made the entire
United States a common market, or free-trade zone.
There were several advantages to giving states a common market. First, goods and resources could flow more easily across the
country. This is important because different regions do different things well. New Englanders might be very good at making cloth, but
their region is not good for growing cotton. Southerners might have lots of cotton but few factories for turning it into cloth. Making
interstate trade easier for cloth makers and cotton growers helps both businesses thrive.
Second, the common market made it easier to create large businesses that crossed state lines. This was very important to companies
like those that built the nation’s railroads in the 19th century.
Third, the common market helped to create a single national economy. Under the Articles of Confederation, it was almost as if the
country had 13 small economies. These could never have grown as diverse [diverse: a group of people or things with obvious
differences among them] or powerful as the U.S. economy did.
Notice that the commerce clause also gives the national government the right to regulate trade with Indian tribes. In effect, the
Constitution treats native tribes as foreign governments. Relations with these “nations within a nation” are the responsibility of
Congress, not the states.
The Constitution divides power between the federal and state governments. The idea behind the separation of powers is to create a unified nation
while balancing power between the national and the state governments.
Powers Belonging to the States The Constitution does not spell out specific powers of the states. Instead, it says that the states
retain, or keep, any powers that are not given to the national government. For instance, the Constitution says nothing about
schools, marriage, establishing local governments, owning property, licensing doctors and lawyers, or most crimes. The states make
the laws in these areas of life.
The Constitution does, however, outline the responsibilities of states to each other. Article IV says that each state must give “full
Faith and Credit” to the laws and court decisions of other states. This means accepting other states’ laws and court decisions as
legal. For example, a driver’s license issued in one state is legal in every state. Similarly, states must obey legal contracts that people
have made in other states. Like the commerce clause, the full faith and credit provision brings stability to business dealings. States are
also required to help each other track down fleeing criminals. Criminals cannot escape justice by fleeing to another state.
Finally, the Constitution does not allow one state to discriminate [discriminate: to treat a person or group unfairly]
unreasonably against a citizen of another state. A state may not, for example, refuse to let a child who was born in another state
attend its public schools.
Shared Powers Federal and state governments also share some powers. For example, both levels of government can collect
taxes, build roads, borrow money, and regulate education.
If you think federalism [federalism: the constitutional system that shares power between the national and state governments] ,
or the sharing of power, sounds complicated, you are right. Consider presidential elections. Congress sets the date for national
elections, while the states register voters and run the elections. States count the ballots, while the national government organizes the
Electoral College vote, which determines who will be president.
Federalism is also complicated because the Constitution provides only a general framework for the sharing of powers. There was no
way for the framers to spell out rules for every possible situation. The federal system continues to evolve through new laws, court
decisions, and constitutional amendments.
The Law of the Land Americans may disagree about how to interpret the Constitution, but they may not ignore it. Article VI states
that the Constitution and the laws flowing from it are the “supreme Law of the Land.” This means that a state’s constitution, laws, and
judicial decisions must agree with the Constitution. They also must not conflict with any other federal laws or treaties. In addition,
everyone who holds a state or federal office must promise to support the Constitution.
Stop for a moment and notice the thoughts you have as you read the title of this essay. What ideas come to mind when you read the
word roots? How about American? Democracy?
Whatever your thoughts are, they are uniquely your own. But most likely they grew out of something you’ve heard or read, or maybe
seen on TV or in the movies. This is how most ideas grow. They start from something outside ourselves. Then we make them our own
and sometimes improve on them.
The Americans who led the Revolution and created the Constitution were no different from you. Starting with other people’s ideas,
they created the government we live under today. The ideas they drew upon are the roots of American democratic thinking and
institutions. Let’s look at some of these roots.
Religious Tradition
One important influence on early Americans was the Judeo-Christian religious tradition. Nearly all the leaders of the Revolution
believed in God. Most were Christians whose ideas about human dignity and freedom owed much to the teachings of the Bible. (The
Bible includes sacred writings of both Judaism and Christianity.) Many Americans saw human liberty not just in political terms, but as
a right bestowed by God.
Leaders like Thomas Jefferson were also influenced by the European Enlightenment. The Enlightenment prized reason and
observation as sources of truth. Many Enlightenment thinkers sought a “natural religion” that was based on observing the order and
lawfulness of the universe. They thought of God as the architect of this orderly universe. In discovering universal laws such as gravity,
they believed, scientists were revealing God’s laws for the natural world. In a similar way, people could find the “natural law” that
should govern society. For thinkers like England’s John Locke, this natural law included basic rights that no human law or ruler
should violate.
That is why the Declaration of Independence speaks of “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” These words express Jefferson’s
belief that liberty and equality came from natural law—the law established by the God who created the world.
The English Parliamentary Tradition
In their thinking about government, early Americans drew on the English parliamentary tradition. They knew it well because they had
been English subjects.
As far back as Magna Carta (1215), the English had put limits on the king’s ability to rule as he pleased. For important matters like
taxation, the king needed approval from the leading citizens of his realm.
Over time, the English established Parliament as the body that represented the king’s subjects. Parliament was divided into two
houses. The House of Lords was made up of aristocrats who held their position for life. The House of Commons was made up of
representatives elected by the people.
The framers of the Constitution adapted this tradition and made it more democratic. In place of a king who ruled for life, they put a
president who had to run for reelection every four years. In place of Parliament, they created a Congress with two houses. The Senate
was designed to be a small, thoughtful body, much like the House of Lords. Unlike English lords, however, senators had to run for
reelection every six years. Even the House of Representatives was more democratic. In England, the House of Commons could go
seven years without elections. In the United States, every member of the House of Representatives faced election every two years.
Classical Liberal Principles
Another aspect of the Enlightenment was a school of thought called classical liberalism. The most basic principle of classical
liberalism was that human beings could be trusted to decide what was best for themselves. The more freedom people enjoyed, the
better off society would be. Government should therefore serve the people’s needs instead of the other way around.
These ideas had been argued forcefully by John Locke. His Second Treatise on Government was published in 1690, just as English
parliamentary tradition was taking its modern form. Locke’s book spoke of each man’s right to “life, liberty, and estate [property].”
Do these words sound familiar? Thomas Jefferson changed them to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for the Declaration of
Independence.
For Locke, property ownership was central to classical liberalism. (And no wonder. He was a wealthy man, with investments in the
silk and slave trades.) This aspect of classical liberalism got a big boost from another English thinker, Adam Smith. His book The
Wealth of Nations came out the same year as the Declaration of Independence. Smith argued that the best way for a nation to become
wealthy was to let people conduct their business as they pleased, free from government interference. This was another argument for
the liberty urged by classical liberalism.
Civic Republicanism
Classical liberalism’s optimistic belief in liberty had a weakness. Sometimes people exercise their rights in ways that harm others.
What if your next-door neighbor plays loud music at three o’clock in the morning, waking up everyone in your home? Should your
neighbor be free to do as he pleases? To keep people from using their freedom in selfish ways, early American leaders relied on the
idea of civic republicanism.
Civic republicanism went all the way back to the ancient Greeks, nearly 2,500 years ago. It called for citizens to do what was best for
the republic (the whole society), not just for themselves. Civic republicans would actively participate in government. They would put
unselfishness before greed, resist political corruption, and play referee when two or more elements of society competed for power.
(Notice that this meaning of republican applies to everyone, not just members of today’s Republican Party.)
Many of the nation’s early leaders believed that civic republicanism depended on citizens receiving a good education. “Establish the
law for educating the common people,” urged Thomas Jefferson. Today these words are inscribed in the Jefferson Memorial in
Washington, D.C. Part of the reason you are asked to study American history is the hope that you, too, will be a civic republican.