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Federalism
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The Constitutional Convention
The Constitutional Convention was intended to revise the Articles of Confederation. Instead of revising the Articles of Confederation, the United States Constitution was created. It increased federal power by giving the government a executive branch, the ability to tax, and etc. The Constituion gives state governments more power then federal. -
Supremacy Clause
The Supremeacy Clause (Article 6, Section 2) of the Constitution increased federal power by making it the authority over state power. The states must follow the federal government as long as it remains constitutional. Therefore, making the federal government the highest form of law. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation were America's first set of laws which had no central government so most of the power was given to the states. The Articles were written by the Second Continental Congress. In the Articles of Confederation were: no power to tax, no power to regulate trade, no executive branch, and no judicial branch. The Articles were weak and ineffective, so instead of revising them the government decided to create the U.S. Constitution. -
Elastic Clause (Necessary and Proper Clause)
Elastic Clause (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18), states that the federal government will have power to create and carry out laws that it deems "necessary and proper". This clause gives the federal government indefinite power to do what it wants. During this time period, many people feared and disliked this law, saying it would intrude on individual liberties. -
10th Amendment
The 10th Amendment states that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. The 10th Amendment was ratified on December 15th, 1791. The ratification was both a State and Federal decision and 2/3 of the States had to decide to ratify this Amendment. -
Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions gave the states the power to choose what was constitutional. This was a huge increase in power of sate governments and lead to the Nullification Crisis, where the states decided that a federal law was not constitutional. In some ways these resolutions made the states more power full then the federal government. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
In the case of McCulloch v. Maryland, the whole point was to see if the federal government would create a Second Bank of the U.S. Chief Justice George Marshall declared that a bank was constituitional. The bank was approved because it invoked the necessary and proper clause, this established principles of implied powers and State Actions aren't necessarily reflected under the constitution. This decision lowered states' rights and increased federal power. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
Gibbons brought his case to the Supreme Court after the local court ruled that he was not allowed to use his boat in New York waters. The Supreme Court ruled that the national government was in charge of making this decision, and not the local court since it had to do with interstate commerce which was part of the Commerce Clause. This increased the power of the federal government to regulate commerce. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
In this case, Dred Scott (a slave who lived in Louisiana) claimed that because he lived there, he was free when he returned to Missouri. The final decision made was that he was to remain a slave because of the Due Process Clause of the 5th Amendment and that the Missouri Compromise was unconstitutional. This gave state governments more power because it made a federal law void and allowed the states to make the decision themselves. -
Civil War
Abraham Lincoln caused the CIvil War by trying to end slavery. The Civil War increased federal power by forcing seceded states back into the Union. This showed that the states are bound to the federal government and Constitution. -
Formation of land-grant colleges (such as Virginia Tech)
The formation of land-grant colleges increased the states' rights and powers by the national government providing pieces of land to build schools. The formation of land-grant colleges was caused by the Morrill Land-Grant Acts. This increases the states' control over education of it's citizens. -
14th Amendment
This Amendment was made after the Civil War and states, "All persons born or naturalized in the United States (which included freed slaves) forbids any person life liberty or property without due process of law". The 14th Amendment expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans. The bill was passed by both house on June 8th, 1866. The Amendment granted citizenship to and protect the civil liberties of recently freed slaves. -
Plessy v. Ferguson
In Plessy v. Ferguson, Homer A. Plessy was arrested because he refused to get off of the whites only train car. This case was then taken to Supreme Court where it was ruled that segregation was constitutional as long as it was equal. This gave the states the power to dictate the separation of whites from blacks. -
Pure Food and Drug Act
This Act increased the federal government's power since it was a federal law that superseded state law. It allowed the federal government the ability to inspect meat and ban certain medications. The Pure Food and Drug Act gave the federal government the authority to regulate activities in the states and private industry. -
16th Amendment
The 16th Amendment states that "Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whenever source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without reguard to any census or enumeration." The Amendment was passed on July 2nd, 1909 and ratified on February 3rd, 1913 by the United States Congress. The 16th Amendment gave Congress the power to collect taxes from citizens. -
Gitlow v. New York
Gitlow was arrested for distributing newspapers that advocated violently overthrowing the government. The First Amendment was used to defend Gitlow but the court ruled against it. They ruled that even though American citizens have the right to free speech, if a person's speech involved dangerous propaganda then that person could be put in jailed. -
The New Deal
The New Deal was Franklin D, Roosevelt's proposal to improve the American government. This increased federal power greatly by creating lots of federal programs that gave the government an abundant amount of power for anything. His New Deal focused primarily on three things: Relief, Recovery, and Reform. Relief was to help the unemployed, Recovery was to help the economy, and Reform was to prevent another depression. -
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act gave rights to both women and African Americans in the United States. United States Legislation agreed to the act, which included changing the segregation of schools and other public areas that were segregated. This Act distributed rights equally among all American citizens. The Congress defended that this Act was contitutional. This Act strengthened the power of the federal government. -
Roe v. Wade
In Roe v. Wade, Jane Roe went before the Supreme Court to get an abortion for her third pregnancy. In this case, it was ruled that contraception and abortion are not constitutionally legal. This decreased state rights because the federal make the decision on whether or not they allow it for them; the states have no say in what they believe or want. -
Election of Ronald Reagan
The election of Ronald Reagan increased states' power because as a President he reduced the federal government's role in social welfare programs. He decided to leave the welfare of U.S. citizens to the states. -
United States v. Lopez
This case had to do with the constitutionality of possession of a gun near schools. Lopez brought a concealed gun onto school property and was charged with violating federal law. This law was found unconstitutional and ended up ruling in favor of Lopez. This case affirmed the power of the states. -
104th Congress
The 104th Congress attempted to devolve Medicaid and sucessfully devolved AFDC and other welfare programs. Its was a meeting involving the Legistlative branch of the United States federal government, composed of both US Senate and Representatives. The meeting occured during President Bill Clintons 3rd and 4th year of Presidency. -
Printz v. United States
This case had to do with the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention's Act which required that in order to buy a gun you had to have a background check ran on you. The court found that background checks were unconstitutional but voluntary checks would still remain. Printz won this case. This limited the federal government's power and increased the power of the states. -
Development of the Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security was created in response to the attacks of September 11th. This department gave the federal government the right to provide security and protect America against terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and covert threats. This allows the federal government to spy on U.S. citizens caused by the creation of th Patriot Act. -
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The Americans with Disabilities Act stated employees, state, and local governments, employment agencies and labor unions are prohibited from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities. This Act was established by the Federal government that pertained to the states and the local governments. This Act gave citizens with disabilities the opportunity to get a job and not be held from any promotion or job opportunity just because they were disabled.
