Federalism Essay

Words: 1223
Pages: 5

Throughout history there have been a large quantity debates to decide the fate of America. In the late 18th century, America had finally broken off from Britain’s control and was looking for a new form of government. Originally, the Articles of Confederation connected the founding thirteen states of America, which was a beginner version of a constitution. This eventually became an issue since these articles did not give any power to the central government. Because of this, the states had many problems in international politics since they had just found freedom and did not have the respect of other countries. Eventually there was talk of the necessity of a new document of some sort to attempt to give the central government a higher purpose …show more content…
James Madison once stated that in a small government, tyranny could be much easier to develop since it would be easier to dominate others. Yet if you take a larger government with a larger population, tyranny would be much more difficult to develop since in a larger population of people which have different views on certain ideas would be much harder to dominate. “If there were only small nations and no great ones, humanity would certainly be freer and happier, but one cannot arrange for there to be no great nations” (Tocqueville 70). The Federalist movement supported the constitution and the balance of power between the state and central governments. They believed that the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances would help protect Americans from tyranny of a centralized authority. Federalist supporters the idea of limiting state power, they argued that two representatives for the senate of each state would adequately represent state interests. “When Tyranny establishes itself within a small nation, it is more troublesome there than anywhere else, because, acting within a smaller circle, it extends to everything within the circle” (Tocqueville 68). Federalists received heavy support form urban areas, such as skilled workers, laborers, and merchants, who saw it as a benefit for a national government because it would help with trade regulations. They believed a central national