What happened to Federalism in America? | Series Introduction

In the summer of 1787, from late May to mid-September, the Founding Fathers met in Philadelphia as delegates to the United States Constitutional Convention. Although the original intent of this meeting was to revise the Articles of Confederation, the delegates ultimately decided to create a new governing system for America.

During the Convention, the delegates worked to incorporate the concept and philosophy of Federalism throughout the document they were crafting. But what exactly is Federalism? Merriam-Webster defines Federalism as "the distribution of power in an organization (such as a government) between a central authority and the constituent units".

The result of the Convention was the United States Constitution, which was forwarded to the States for ratification. To promote the movement for ratification, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay authored The Federalist Papers.

The incorporation of Federalism throughout our government system was very clear. Our fourth President, James Madison, left little to interpretation when he wrote in Federalist 45 that "The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite."

So what does Federalism look like in modern America? Well, that is a good question that requires a complex answer. However, the short answer is that Federalist system in the United States has slowly been obstructed and suppressed over a long period of time. To bluntly describe the current situation, the State's have been given the short end of the stick, and wrongly so.

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