Federalism is compromise essential for the creation of the country. It can be seen as a compromise between the extreme concentration of power and a loose confederation of independent states for governing a variety of people usually in a large expanse of territory. The balance between big and small government is something that has shifted since the conception of our country. While in theory one could argue that both sides sound like feasible solutions to many political and social issues, finding the proper balance between the two has proven to be more nuanced than some people would expect. In the U.S. the federal balance of power has evolved throughout history.
Federalism in its most basic form is division of power between national and state …show more content…
Every state was working individually therefore Congress could not regulate trade, which resulted in the economic chaos of mid 1780s. Commerce policy varied throughout states with some states adopting barriers that were conflicting to other states. There was no single form of currency that meant states could also print money therefore trade between states became much less efficient. The laws and taxes also varied across states. Such lack of economic unity and Congress’ failure to regulate the economy ended up making business between states difficult and hurting the economy, it also ended up in riots and protests such as the ones conducted in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt that commonly came to be known as Shay’s Rebellion. These failures of the articles pushed the government to a more federalized system. The retention of power by the state and the failure of the articles of confederation resulted in the Annapolis Convention 1786 and the Constitutional Convention …show more content…
Under new federalism, attempts were made to restore some powers to the state government since the national government was gaining supremacy as could be seen in setting the national drinking age to 21 with the threat of withholding federal highway funds. Richard Nixon tried to return power to the state by channeling federal dollars back to the state and Ronald Reagan allowed Block Grants to the states for which the states have a lot of say in how to spend the
Federalism in its most basic form is division of power between national and state …show more content…
Every state was working individually therefore Congress could not regulate trade, which resulted in the economic chaos of mid 1780s. Commerce policy varied throughout states with some states adopting barriers that were conflicting to other states. There was no single form of currency that meant states could also print money therefore trade between states became much less efficient. The laws and taxes also varied across states. Such lack of economic unity and Congress’ failure to regulate the economy ended up making business between states difficult and hurting the economy, it also ended up in riots and protests such as the ones conducted in 1786 and 1787 by American farmers against state and local enforcement of tax collections and judgments for debt that commonly came to be known as Shay’s Rebellion. These failures of the articles pushed the government to a more federalized system. The retention of power by the state and the failure of the articles of confederation resulted in the Annapolis Convention 1786 and the Constitutional Convention …show more content…
Under new federalism, attempts were made to restore some powers to the state government since the national government was gaining supremacy as could be seen in setting the national drinking age to 21 with the threat of withholding federal highway funds. Richard Nixon tried to return power to the state by channeling federal dollars back to the state and Ronald Reagan allowed Block Grants to the states for which the states have a lot of say in how to spend the