The Division of Powers
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The State governments—thirteen of them to begin with, but soon several more—would carry on the administration of justice within their own
boundaries, protecting people and property, maintaining the courts of law
that dealt with most litigation, overseeing local governments, maintaining
roads, transportation, and communications, and in general protecting
the health, safety, and welfare of their citizens through the exercise of
what is called ‘‘the state police powers.’’
Thus the State governments were in many ways independent of the
Federal government. Ordinarily the actions of the Federal organization
and the actions of the State governments would not conflict because they
operated on different levels of public policy. Nevertheless, a good many
American political leaders foresaw difficulties in the relationship between the national government and the States.
For most Americans in our early republic, the idea of a national capital
in some remote city seemed alien. Their hearts did not warm to it. There
were marked differences among the States, and also between North and
South, East and West—contrasting patterns of culture, economic activity,
social institutions, customs, manners, speech. So we ought not to be surprised that many Americans’ first loyalty was to their State, rather than
to the Federal union. The really surprising thing is that, despite this affection for one’s State and one’s local community, the people of the thirteen original States did assent, if reluctantly, to the federal structure set
up by the new Constitution.
Their assent was reluctant because many of them could perceive that
the autonomy, or self-government, of the States must be diminished in a
federal system. This was because the Federal government was authorized by the Constitution to operate directly upon the citizens of every
State, in a number of ways, whether or not a State government might
agree with Federal policies. That is, the Federal power must prevail over
State power when the Federal government is exercising one of the enumerated powers specified in the Constitution, usually in Article I.
Most enumerated powers are also called delegated powers because they
originated in the States and were delegated or assigned by the States to the
national government. In addition to enumerated powers, Congress also
possesses under Article I, Section 8, by means of the ‘‘Necessary and
Proper’’ Clause, certain implied powers. Article I, Section 8, Clause 18