Confederation And Federalism

What is Federalism? Federalism is the function of the national government and state government to share power. Federalism is also a political problem for the Articles of Confederation. It took years of fighting and arguing to get the national government and states to share power. The compromise that resulted was listed powers for both the federal government and the states. This system allows each state to deal with its needs in its own way and governed itself much as it had done in the past. The national government has enumerated and concurrent powers and the states have reserve powers. They could no longer print their own money or tax imports from other states. It also lets the states act together to deal with matters that affect all Americans. The Constitution guarantees that no American's basic rights will be taken away now or for posterity. In a federal system, power is shared by …show more content…
The concept of reserved powers is rooted in the fact that people are closer to, and feel loyalty to, their state governments. In an effort to prevent the newly formed government from stepping outside its authority, or abusing its powers, an amendment to the Constitution was made specifying that all powers not specially granted to Congress or the President are reserved for the states, or the people, alone. Reserved powers include such rights as the power to establish schools, pass marriage laws, and regulate trade within a state. Even though reserved powers aren't specifically listed in the Constitution, but the Tenth Amendment says that all powers not specifically granted to the federal government ''are reserved to the states''. Since the constitution created a government of limited and enumerated powers, the framers believed that a bill of rights was not only unnecessary, but also, potentially dangerous. The constitution left important powers in the hands of the states which where the states had the power to pass and also enforce