Wood, Gordon. The Creation of the American Republic, — New York: W. Norton and Co. Campbell, Jud. Federalism [electronic resource]. Other articles in Governmental Entities and Activities. Want to support the Free Speech Center? Donate Now.
The First American Constitutions. Lanham, Md. Burnham, James. Congress and the American Tradition. Washington, D. Elazar, Daniel J. Exploring Federalism.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, The Founders provided the national government with powers it lacked under the Articles and ensured it would be able to act on behalf of the citizenry directly without going through the state governments.
The Founders struck this balance by granting the new national government only limited and enumerated powers and leaving the regulation of intrastate commerce to the states. State legislative powers were almost exclusively limited by their own constitutions. The powers of states were simply everything left over after that enumeration. Federalism changed in the wake of the Civil War. The Republicans in the Thirty-Eighth Congress enacted the Thirteenth Amendment, eliminating the power of states to enforce slavery within their borders.
But Southern states almost immediately used the rest of their vast police powers to enact Black Codes to oppress the newly freed slaves. Their aim was to come as closely as possible to restoring slavery in everything but name. The Republicans thus created the Fourteenth Amendment. Section 1 forbade states from violating the fundamental rights of their own citizens, placing new federal constraints on all three branches of state governments. Section 5 granted Congress the power to enforce those constraints.
With the passage of the 14 th Amendment, the federal government could now prevent states from violating the privileges and immunities of their citizens; depriving anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process; and denying anyone equal protection. Following on its heels, a similar provision was enacted to prevent states from denying citizens the right to vote based on their race.
Ferguson , and Giles v. Harris As a result, the powers accorded to the federal government lay dormant until the Court and Congress took them up again in the early Twentieth Century to protect economic liberties in cases like Lochner v.
New York and Buchanan v. The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures. The 27 amendments to the Constitution are called formal amendments, which are changes or additions that become part of the written language of the Constitution itself.
He cannot veto an amendment proposal, nor a ratification. First Method An amendment may be pro- posed by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress and be ratified by three fourths of the State legislatures. Today, 38 State legislatures must approve an amendment for it to become a part of the Constitution. Informal amendments, unlike formal amendments which change the written word of the Constitution, are changes not affecting the written document. This vital process of constitutional change by means other than formal amendment has taken place—and con- tinues to occur—in five basic ways: through 1 the passage of basic legislation by Congress; 2 actions taken by the President; 3 key decisions of the Supreme Court; 4 the activities of polit- ical parties; ….
A formal change is called an amendment, or addition. To amend the Constitution, it has to be voted on by both houses of Congress by a two-thirds majority. If approved, it becomes a formal proposal, and is sent to the state legislatures to be ratified.
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