Constitution And Federalism

The Constitution and Federalism

On July fourth, 1776, the colonists of America gained freedom from the oppressive clutches of England. The colonists did this by establishing the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation defined the role and powers of government after the colonists gained independence for England. However, the Articles of Confederation was a vastly flawed document. Therefore, in 1787, the Constitution was created to reconstruct and improve on this document. This reconstruction was accomplished through Federalism. This mode of government has changed since the revision of the Articles of Confederation and the creation of the Constitution. This modern Federalism is seen as a power struggle between centralist

As previously stated, the Articles of Confederation was a vastly flawed document. Several problems arose as the new nation began to develop into a functioning state. Being a weak document, changes were needed. A major problem with the Articles of confederation was in the case of power. Under the Articles, the federal government was too weak to enforce the laws they enacted. This meant that the people of the new nation could govern themselves as they saw fit, for the government could not force anything upon anyone. The reason for the federal government being weak was simple; America had just fought a war to free itself from a tyrannical government. This was still fresh in the minds of many Americans, which lead way to the Federal government of the United States being feeble. The Federal government was not only weak, but very limited as to what it was allowed to enforce. Under the Articles of confederation, no precautions were made for an executive branch to enforce laws or for a national court system to interpret said laws. Congress was the sole structure that had any real power. Article III Section 1 gave the supreme court to view things as unconstitutional and gave the judicial branch power (“Transcript of Articles of Confederation”). In theory, it could declare war and raise an army, but it could not force any state to meet the assigned number for troops or for the arms and equipment needed to support them. It could not support itself and depended on the

An amendment is defined as a minor change to a document. There are two types of amendments: formal and informal amendments. A formal amendment is defined as an amendment that has gone through one of the procedures outlined in Article V of the Constitution and changes or adds to the Constitution 's wording. It has also been ratified by the states and has become law. Formal amendments are not time limited, however, a bill becoming an amendment typically has seven years to become an amendment. An informal amendment is described as an interpretation of the Constitution as it develops over time. For example, Brown v. Board of Education, where the United States Supreme Court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional. Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Gibbons v. Ogden, and Roe v. Wade are all examples of informal amendments. The Supreme Court had to interpret the Constitution to find a ruling in these significant cases. The thirteenth amendment outlaws slavery. However, this amendment was not always formal. In the Northern states, slavery was believed to be barbaric and was not commonly practiced but was a way of life in Southern states. This informal amendment became formal from the enslaved persons believing slavery violated their natural rights. In Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court announced the principle that a court may declare an act of Congress void if it violates the