On The Front Lines
Test
The Constitution of the United States represents the classic solution to one of humankind’s greatest political problems—that is, how does a small group of states combine into a strong union without the states losing their individual powers and surrendering their control over local affairs? The fifty-five delegates who convened in Philadelphia during the sweltering summer of 1787 answered this question with a document that called for a federal plan of government, a system of separation of powers with checks and balances, and a procedure for orderly change to meet the needs and exigencies of future generations.
In an ultimate sense, the Constitution confirmed the proposition that original power resided in the people—not, however, in the people as a whole but in their capacity as people of the several states. To bring forth the requisite union, the people through the states would transfer some of their powers to the new federal government. All powers not reserved by the people in explicit state constitutional limitations remained in the state governments.
In short, national or local governments, being the creatures of the states, could exercise only those powers explicitly or implicitly given them by the states; each state government could exercise all power unless it was forbidden from doing so by the people of the state. Thus, the genius of federalism was in delineating central governmental power by spreading political power among various governmental units.
Adopted on September 17, 1787, the Constitution was ratified in June of 1788.
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