Reordering of the Federal System

Reordering of the Federal System

On gaining independence from England, the thirteen American colonies were transformed to become the thirteen states. On realizing that they would benefit more by working together, other than by remaining disintegrated, the said states formed a league -- with the resulting system of governance being defined in the Articles of Confederation. It is important to note that at this point, the national government was far less powerful than state governments. In the words of Welch, Gruhl, Comer, and Rigdon, "the national government exercised only the powers given it by the state governments" (31).

Federal System Reordering

The reordering of the federal system was set in motion by the development of a new system of government by the Founding Fathers. With the writing of the new constitution, federalism was born, with the guiding principle in this regard being the sharing of power between two levels of the government, i.e. state and national governments. Essentially, a number of factors have led to the further enhancement of the federal government's power. I will take into consideration three of these: the allocation of key powers to the federal government under the new constitution, the victory of the Union, and effects of globalization as well as industrialization.

1. Constitutional Powers of the National Government

From the onset, the federal government managed to surpass state power thanks to key powers allocated to the national government. It is these powers that "ensured a stronger national government in foreign and domestic matters than under the articles" (Welch, Gruhl, Comer, and Rigdon 31). These powers, as the authors further point out, included the authority to print as well as coin money and the authority over foreign affairs (Welch, Gruhl, Comer, and Rigdon 31). The national government was also tasked with overseeing interstate trade, adjudication of all disputes of a legal nature between states, and raising of an army. This effectively left states with soft power such as management of public health and safety, etc.

2. Victory of the Union

It is important to note that some of the disputes that triggered the Civil War had their roots in federalism. As a matter of fact, two of the key issues that civil war sought to address were 1) the federal government's role and 2) the Union's nature (Holdstedt 9). Essentially, there was a general feeling amongst most Southerners that the ability of states to have a say in important matters should not have been interfered with. There are those who felt that given that they had ratified the constitution, state governments were more powerful than the federal government. These views led many, particularly those in the Southern States, to believe that succession from the Union was critical if state power was to be enhanced. Most Northerners, on the other hand, including Abraham Lincoln, were of the opinion that dissolution of the Union was not an option. Eventually, the latter group carried the day, with the victory of the Union further enhancing and solidifying the power of the federal government over individual states.

3. Industrialization and Globalization