United States Federalism

Federalism* The sharing of power between a central govt (federal/national) and equally sovereign regional govts (state and local)

● Contrast to unitary-single governing authority w/ uniform law throughout the land

● What are the benefits of federalism?

● What are the downfalls of federalism?

10th amendment: Rights of the states

States shall be allowed to make their own laws as long as they are

constitutional States have police powers (powers to enforce laws on health, safety

and morals)Reserved powers-any powers not

mentioned in the Constitution remain w/ the states

Concurrent powers-some powers held by both state and federal level

But….• Supremacy Clause (article VI)-when

Congress enacts a law and is constitutional, a state cannot disregard it

• Extradition-US law says states must deliver captured fugitives to the state of original crime

• Privileges and Immunity Clause- “citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states”

Who has the real power in the United States, the federal government or the states?

Era of Dual Federalism

Washington’s Presidency to FDR (1789-1937)

What was Dual Federalism?• Nat’l govt is supreme in its own

sphere and the states are equally supreme in their own sphere of authority

• “Commerce Clause”(Article 1, section 8) –the federal gov’t can regulate commerce between states but not within a state (Supreme Court decisions gave control of pretty much most commerce activity to Congress)

• But overall…a period of more power to the states

The Early American Republic

The Washington and AdamsPresidencies1788-1800

1792 Election Results (16 states in the Union)

George Washington Virginia Federalist 132 97.8%

John Adams Massachusetts Federalist 77

57.0%

George Clinton New York Democratic-Republican

50 37.0%

Thomas Jefferson Virginia Democratic-Republican

4 3.0%

Aaron Burr New York Federalist 1 0.7%

Electoral Votes Not Cast --- -----

6 4.4%

Total Number of Electors 132

Total Electoral Votes Cast 264

Number of Votes for a Majority 67

George Washington-our 1st President•Very popular, a war hero

•Assumed he would be the leader of the new country

•1789-1797•A small, but strong federal

government in the midst of Republicans v Federalist debate (he was a Federalist)

•Served a nation of 3.9 million people

•Jefferson-Sec of State•Hamilton-Sec of Treasury•Washington video clip

Federalism v Republicanism• Federalist leader• Alexander

Hamilton

• Republican leader

• Thomas Jefferson

Federalism v Republicanism• Led by Alexander

Hamilton• Big federal

government• Isolationist (Pro-

British)• Pro-big business and

rich; common people not to be trusted

• Wanted a federally controlled National Bank

• Constitution is fluid—what the constitution did not forbid, it permitted

• Led by Thomas Jefferson• Big govt. destroys our

liberties -pro-states’ rights

• Promote int’l trade-espec. w/ France

• Faith in the people/common man

• Banks should be state or privately controlled

• Strict constitutionalist-what the constitution did not permit, it forbade

George Washington-our 1st President

•The Whiskey Rebellion-dealt w/ a rural tax revolt harshly

•Washington himself led troops to western PA to put down the rebellion

•Jefferson: “gross over-reaction” by the Washington administration

•Incident strengthened calls of the Jeffersonian republicans against an “overbearing” federal govt

John Adams (1797-1801)• Jefferson was Vice President• Near full-scale war w/ France• Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)-

dissenters can be jailed for speaking out against federal govt

• Journalists sent to jail• Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

(1798) by Jefferson and Madison- a push for greater states’ rights and a protest to Alien and Sedition acts and nullify a federal law that was unconstitutional-never passed

* Nullification-right of state to declare null and void any federal law it sees as constitutional-later invoked by John Calhoun during the Jackson administration in the 1830s

1800 Election Results (16 states in the Union)

Thomas Jefferson Virginia Democratic-Republican 73 52.9%

Aaron Burr New York Democratic-Republican 73 52.9%

John Adams Massachusetts Federalist 65 47.1%

Charles Pinckney South Carolina Federalist 64 46.4%

John Jay New York Federalist 1 0.7%

“A Peaceful Revolution”-the Election of 1800• Election decided in the House of Representatives due to

a tie• The Federalists accepted their defeat despite

animosity• The peaceful passing of power from Adams’

Federalists to Jefferson’s Democrat-Republican party accomplished w/o violence-very rare for its time

• Showed the stability of America’s political system

Thomas Jefferson, 1st Inaugural Address, 1801

• “Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things. But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.”

Thomas Jefferson Elected• (Republican) (1801-1809)

• First election decided by the House of Reps

• Wanted a smaller role for federal gov, more role for the states- but later forced to moderate his republican values

• Lower taxes, smaller military, appointed both federalists and Republicans in his administration

• Westward Expansion

The Louisiana Purchase from France

The Louisiana Purchase from France• Napoleon needed funds to

finance wars• $15 million for more than

Jefferson orig. wanted• Problem: did the Constitution

give Jefferson the power to purchase foreign land?

• Jefferson argued it was the good of the country-strengthened his hopes for an agrarian society of farmers

• Jefferson video clip

The Supreme Court Shapes Federalism

Rulings of the Marshall court

Jefferson’s attack on federalist judges

• Chief Justice Marshall (federalist, TJ’s cousin)-opposed Jefferson

• Marshall’s decisions strengthened the power of central govt, but weakened states’ rights

• Tried to dismiss Federalist judges-Pickering (NH), Samuel Chase

Jefferson’s attack on federalist judges

• Marbury v Madison-Supreme Court could judge constitutionality of Congressional acts (judicial review)

• Repealed Judiciary Act as unconstitutional

• The Supreme Court could now overrule action of the 2 other branches of govt

McCulloch v Maryland (1819)

• Constitution-does not mention that Congress “has the power to create a bank”

• Can states tax federal institutions?

• Maryland sued bank (managed by James McCulloch) created in Baltimore by the US Congress b/c of refusal to pay special tax for out-of state banks

• Result: Marshall’s court sided w/ McCulloch

• McCulloch case broadened Congress’s powers by saying constitutional federal law can override state law

Gibbons v Ogden (1824)• Constitution-Congress can

regulate commerce” with foreign nations, and among the states and w/ Indian tribes.”

• Can Congress regulate monopolies of steamboat operators within a state?

• Robert and NY state govt: monopoly on steamboats on Hudson River

• Coast Guard ship authorized by Congress to sail on same waterways

• Supreme Court decided against Fulton- Fed. Govt is in charge of commerce-Congress can be in charge of commercial activity along waterways

Heart of Atlanta Motel v US (1964)• Does the Commerce Clause give

Congress the authority to require a business owner to accept/serve all patrons?

• Civil Rights Act 1964• This Motel required to serve African

Americans since most of its customers came from out of state

• Katzenbach v McLung-restaurant must serve blacks as most of its supplies come from out of state

• Can the US Congress regulate Christian bakeries and wedding planning businesses who refuse services for gay weddings?

• http://nypost.com/2015/04/26/christian-bakers-face-135k-fine-for-refusing-to-make-cake-for-gay-wedding/

• http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2015/July/Christian-Bakers-Fined-Gagged-in-Gay-Cake-Case/

Jim Crow Era3 Major constitutional amendments canceled out southern states’ pro-slavery laws:

1865 13TH AMENDMENT FREED THE SLAVES

1868 14TH AMENDMENT MADE BLACKS US CITIZENS WITH EQUAL PROTECTION UNDER THE LAW

1870 15TH AMENDMENT BLACK MEN HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE

But…….1896 PLESSY v. FERGUSON “SEPARATE BUT EQUAL”

FACILITIES ALLOWED, LEGALIZED SEGREGATION

1890s-1950s “JIM CROW” LAWS MANDATED SEGREGATION AND PREVENTED BLACKS FROM VOTING overriding federal laws against such types of segregation

EXAMPLES OF SEGREGATED FACILITIES

Restaurants: It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless such white and colored persons are effectively separated by a solid partition extending from the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from the street is provided for each compartment.

Intermarriage: All marriages between a white person and a Negro person or between a white person and a person of Negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited. (Florida)

Education: The schools for white children and the schools for Negro children shall be conducted separately. (Florida)

Textbooks: Books shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall be continued to be used by the race first using them. (North Carolina)

Burial: The officer in charge shall not bury, or allow to be buried, any colored persons upon ground set apart or used for the burial of white persons. (Georgia)

Parks: It shall be unlawful for colored people to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the benefit, use and enjoyment of white persons. and unlawful for nay white person to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the use and benefit of colored persons. (Georgia)

The Blind: The board of trustees shall. maintain a separate building. on separate ground for the admission, care, instruction, and support of all blind persons of the colored or black race. (Louisiana)

Lunch Counters: No persons, firms, or corporations, who or which furnish meals to passengers at station restaurants or station eating houses, in times limited by common carriers of said passengers, shall furnish said meals to white and colored passengers in the same room, or at the same table , or at the same counter. (South Carolina)

EXAMPLES OF JIM CROW LAWS

1. Poll Taxes- a special tax blacks had to pay to vote-many couldn’t afford it

2. Literacy Tests- some in other languages-if you couldn’t pass it, you couldn’t vote

3. Grandfather clauses- if your grandfather wasn’t eligible to vote, you couldn’t vote

The Progressive Era

Progressive Era Federal Laws created power play over commerce authority over

businesses• Anti-trust legislation

(Sherman and Clayton)-broke up monopolies such as JD Rockefeller’s Standard Oil company

• Child labor laws, minimum wage laws, 8-hour work day, worker’s comp.

• 16th amendment (federal income tax) expanded Congress’s reach

• 17th amendment senators elected by the people rather than state legislatures

Progressive Era Federal Laws created power play over commerce authority over

businesses• FBI created (can cross

state lines)• Mann Act (1910) –

prostitution regulated• Automobile Theft Act

(1915)• Racketeering, drug

dealing and bank robbery made federal crimes by Congress

Era of Cooperative Federalism

FDR’s New Deal to Obama

(1938-present)

The Federal Grant program• Congress collects federal tax

revenue and distributes to states in the form of grants

• Revenue sharing, cooperative federalism or fiscal federalism

• FDR’s New Deal caused fed govt to grow-Congress implementing more grants to states to aid the impoverished

• Grants-in-aid: to take care of basic state needs-crime, safety, education, and later civil rights

Types of Grants under Contemporary Federalism

1. Categorical Grants: states must follow particular guidelines in spending the grant $ given by Congress

2. Block Grants: starting in 1966, offer larger sums of money to states w/o strings attached (heavily supported by conservatives wanting more local and state say over spending of $)

Marble Cake Federalism-mix of state and federal authority in spending grant $

New Federalism (1980s)• Advocated by

Conservatives like Ronald Reagan-”it is my intention to curb the size and influence of the federal establishment”

• Reduce federal taxes• Return more state

and local control over reserved powers

Grants in the 80s and Beyond

• Mandates-states receive federal $ in return for following federal Clean Air Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Motor Voter Law

Devolution• by 1994, supported by conservative

republicans to devolve some responsibilities of federal govt and hand back over to the states

• 1990s-Congress cannot issue unfunded mandates, much of welfare system and Medicaid authority handed back to the states

• Clinton (a liberal)- “The era of big gov’t is over”

Federalism and Schools• Cold War-education became a top

priority• LBJ- passed acts to give more federal $

to education• Late 1970s-Dept. of Education

created• No Child Left Behind (NCLB) GW Bush-

federal mandate on schools to meet progress (AYP) or be denied federal $. (“single largest expansion of federal power over the nation’s education system in history”)

Federalism and Schools• Race to the Top (Obama) added a

call for states to adopt new national standards

• Common Core State Standards adopted as a result

• Much protest against Common Core and NCLB-violation of 10th amendment

Federalism at it’s worst?

Hurricane Katrinahttp://www.hbo.com/documentaries/when-the-levees-broke-a-requiem-in-four-acts/index.html