*READER'S NOTE: The Federalist Papers were written and published in local newspapers during the same time that the debate over our federal constitution was occurring. Three Founding Fathers, James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton, are the main authors behind the anonymous letters. The Federalist Papers laid out for the people of the United States what the new Constitution of the United States stood for and why they should adopt it.
The vision the Founding Fathers had for this country was one in which the Federal Government had limited powers and stayed out of the daily lives of free men. Hence, our Constitution is one of limited powers. It lays out the few powers reserved for the federal government and per the 10th Amendment the rest of the power is for the States and the People. "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." (U.S. Constitution, 10th Amendment). Nothing could be more clear than the fact that the federal government has no power beyond what the Constitution gives it.
In fact, the power of the federal government was exactly what was fought over between the federalists and the anti-federalists during the debate over the Constitution of the United States. The anti-federalists were concerned that a federal government with too much power was a danger to freedom and liberty. The federalists, on the other hand, agreed but also knew that in order for the country to be successful the federal government had to have some power. The agreements to the limits on federal government are what got the anti-federalists on board, and lead to the adoption of the Constitution.
The Founders thought it incomprehensible that the federal government would ever feel it had the right to step into the local arena. Regarding the federal government and the laws it might make, Hamilton stated "It may be said that it would tend to render the government of the Union too powerful, and to enable it to absorb those residuary authorities, which it might be judged proper to leave with the States for local purposes...I confess I am at a loss to discover what temptation the persons intrusted with the administration of the general government (the federal government) could ever feel to divest the States of the authorities of that description...The administration of private justice between the citizens of the same State, the supervision of agriculture and of other concerns of a similar nature, all those things, in short, which are proper to be provided for by local legislation, can never be desirable cares of a general jurisdiction (federal government). It is therefore improbable that there should exist a disposition in the federal councils to usurp the powers with which they are connected; because the attempt to exercise those powers would be as troublesome as it would be nugatory; and the possession of them, for that reason, would contribute nothing to the dignity, to the importance, or to the splendor of the national government." (The Federalist Papers #17).
The Founders felt that the federal government could never overstep its bounds because it was well known that doing so would destroy liberty, and also due to the fact that the People would stand up and stop it. The Founders believed in the power of the American spirit. "But let it be admitted, for argument's sake, that mere wantonness and lust of domination would be sufficient to beget that disposition (the desire for power would cause federal government to overstep its bounds); still it may be safely affirmed, that the sense of the constituent body of national representatives, or in other words, the people of the several States, would control the indulgence of so extravagant an appetite." (The Federalist Papers #17). Wake up America, it's up to us!
"It will always be far more easy for the State governments to encroach on upon the national authorities, than for the national government to encroach upon the State authorities. The proof of this proposition turns upon the greater degree of influence which the State governments, if they administer their affairs with uprightness and prudence, will generally possess over the people." (The Federalist Papers #17). Does this sound like the America of today? Of course not. We must rediscover our founding principles and put our country back together. "There is one transcendent advantage belonging to the province of the State governments - the ordinary administration of criminal and civil justice...regulating all those personal interests and familiar concerns to which the sensibility of individuals is more immediately awake (the issues that touch and concern the people's daily lives)...The operations of the national government, on the other hand, falling less immediately under the observation of the mass of the citizens...Relating to more general interests, they will be less apt to come home to the feelings of the people." (The Federalist Papers #17). Again, does this sound like what America has become?
Each State was meant to be unique, experimenting with laws, and the People would decide what was best. Therefore, local issues were off the table for the federal government. "Was, then, the American Revolution effected, was the American Confederacy formed, was the precious blood of thousands spilt, and the hard-earned substance of millions lavished, not that the people of America should enjoy peace, liberty, and safety, but that the government of the individual States, that particular municipal establishments, might enjoy a certain extent of power, and be arrayed with certain dignities and attributes of sovereignty?" (The Federalist Papers #45). The federal government has usurped many of the powers that are meant to be in the hands of the States. "The States will retain, under the proposed Constitution, a very extensive portion of active sovereignty, the inference ought not to be wholly disregarded...The State governments may be regarded as constituent and essential parts of the federal government: whilst the latter is nowise essential to the operation or organization of the former...The number of individuals employed under the Constitution of the United States will be much smaller than the number employed under the particular States...The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce...The powers reserved to the several states will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people; and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State. The operations of the federal government will be most extensive and important in times of war and danger; those of the State governments in times of peace and security." (The Federalist Papers #45). Could it be more clear?
What is most alarming is that the American people have slowly been stripped of their local powers without much notice. So much so that it took something as outrageous as Obamacare, which forces every American to purchase healthcare, to open our eyes. The federal government has no constitutional authority to force Americans to buy anything, let alone a government controlled healthcare policy. In actuality, the federal government has no constitutional authority to do most of what it does modernly. That is the scary part. Only the major oversteps seem to be noticed, what about the rest of it? We quickly need to get legislators into Congress who understand America's founding principles and mean business when it comes to scaling back the size and reach of the federal government. Known your history!
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