Preview

The Role of Federal Government Throughout History

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1974 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Role of Federal Government Throughout History
Reaghan A. Bennett
AP US History Mid-Term

Overall, what I learned was that throughout history, whether it is American or history within other countries, the game never changes. We repeat incidents in history and though we might expect the outcome to differ, it rarely does. “The names of the players change but the game does not.” There are trends in history and almost every incident we face can be referred to similar happenings of the past. But the most predominant and reoccurring theme throughout the centuries, and possibly back to the beginning of human civilization and governing, is the role of federal government in the people’s lives. From Ancient Civilization, to Tories versus the Whigs, all the way up to controversy between republicans and democrats the same question has been asked. Do you want a big, intrusive government that decides what is best for you or a smaller government whose primary purpose is to protect you and provide a bit of order and structure so that we are not running about doing anything we please? It is important to recognize this theme. For the role of federal government will always impact our lives directly and decide the amount of freedom allowed to both the people and the government.
Whilst reading the material for this semester, I came across the controversial topic of the limit of power to govern the people multiple times. America couldn’t seem to agree on where the line was drawn between the people’s power versus the federal governments. We had great difficulty with it in the 18th century and we still do today. This matter in the present day can be simply put as the political issues between democrats and republicans. Though they are two separate parties one will find that their wants don’t differ as much as one would expect. They want what is best for the country in order to become an even greater, efficient nation. But it’s the size of the government that divides the two. One prefers a government that is not quite significant

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Federalists believed that a strong central government was needed because of the cruel remarks that were made against America in European courts. (Doc. 1) These remarks led the…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The evolution of the United States can be seen over a specific time period. Between 1970 and 1930 the form of government was known as layer cake federalism or dual federalism. There were clear powers divided between the states and the centre and there was sovereignty given in equal measure to both. Between the years 1930 and 1960 the structure was known as Cooperative federalism or marble cake federalism where the state and the central government shared functions and collaborated on issues of national importance and priorities. The 1960s to 1980s were known as picket fence federalism and was characterized by high and overloaded cooperation and regulations which were not only interfering between the powers of the centre and…

    • 828 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “A Revolution In Favor Of Government”, by Max M. Edling, presents the founding period of America. Besides, it focuses on the political and historical facts of the Constitution and the American state. According to Max Edling, the Federalists tried to build a central government, which was based on the fiscal-military of Europe. So, the federal system of government was built when the Constitution was designed by Federalists with fiscal-military power. They had to build a different state, because it was hard to secure adopting the Constitution. The Constitution was designed to protect the liberties and the rights of the American citizens.…

    • 998 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The experience with British rule had soured the Founders on the idea of one government with centralized and ultimate power. The new Americans did not care if tyranny came from a central government in America rather than from across the Atlantic—they wanted to make the potential for tyranny as remote as possible. In a federal system, both the states and the central government are sovereign within the sphere of powers the Constitution grants them.…

    • 376 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States’ form of government is a controversial topic in this modern era and has been for decades. The big question “Is the United States a democracy, a republic or something else?” According to the article On Democracy in Our Republic by an unknown author, there is a logically reinforced thesis that the United States is a republic and not a democracy.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Before the state convention, there is a great issue about liberty. One proponents of the Constitution are federalists who favor to establish a stronger national government; one opponents of the Constitution are anti-federalists who favor to establish a weaker national government. Federalists think only a stronger national government have an ability to keep the states in control. Anti-federalists think the states should have more power than the national government. Even though the conflict between federalist and anti-federalist doesn't stop, whether it is a federalists or anti-federalists, they have the same dream to united the states to become a strong country. The perfect decision is to use the best way to administrate the country and stabilize the society. In my opinion, a stronger national government will keep the country developing.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The American system of government following the end of the American Revolution was a disaster as far as the nation’s status as a union. Under the Articles of Confederation, there was nothing “unified” about the United States. The states stood in the union as individual bodies, with little to no ties to a seemingly non-existent central governing body or to the other states. This allowed the states to disregard other states’ laws and ultimately created disunion within the states. Because it has been proven that the states cannot stand alone and sufficiently govern themselves without a strong central government, the national government should be the supreme law of the land.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The debates over ratification of the Constitution represent the most important and intellectually sophisticated public debates in American history. On the one side, the supporters of the Constitution, or "Federalists," argued that the nation desperately needed a stronger national government to bring order, stability and unity to its efforts to find its way in an increasingly complicated world. Opponents of the Constitution, or "Antifederalists," countered that the the governments of the states were strong enough to realize the objectives of each state. Any government that diminished the power of the states, as the new Constitution surely promised to do, would also diminish the ability of each state to meet the needs of its citizens. More dramatically, the Antifederalists argued that the new national government, far removed from the people, would be all to quick to compromise their rights and liberties in the name of establishing order and unity.…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Government was a topic of controversy in pre colonial America, and it still is today. However, America wouldn’t be America without the ideas that the founding fathers set out. As presented in Wickers lecture on The Constitution, The Constitution set forth the idea of the three branches of government. This makes for a more fair system of government, and a far cry from a king born into the right family ruling the people’s every move. There would be no democracy,…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the heels of the revolutionary war and the failed attempt of a national government (The Articles of Confederation), the leaders of the United States set to make a stronger, centralized government, with dual sovereignty between the national government and the states. The rules of this governing body would be laid out in a document called the Constitution. Although most leaders supported the constitution they did not agree on many aspects of it. Out of the disagreement two groups emerged, the Federalist and the Anti-Federalist. The Federalist supported all aspects of the constitution and a larger national government, while the Anti-Federalist opposed ratifying the constitution and supported a smaller national government and more sovereignty to the states. This disagreement led to a fierce debate between the two groups that still resonates today. This essay will examine the primary…

    • 591 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Forming a new government comes with challenges and obstacles that the people need to overcome for the greater good of the country. During the time that the Americans formed the government, arguments were placed into the open to be solved. Solutions that were given, many were rejected and caused a lot of disagreement. Creating a government brought the country into disagreement between the anti-federalists and federalists for the concerns of rights of the people and power that was shared among them. Firstly, the anti-federalists disagreed how the rights were to be given to one another as well as the division of power between the states. Secondly, the federalists were satisfied with the conditions that were given to them, including the power they could have and what human rights that would protect them.…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A federal system checks the growth of tyranny, allows unity without uniformity, encourages experimentation, and keeps government closer to the people. In this system, the people are one with the government so the people like the government and it prevents chaos. In the twenty-first century,…

    • 612 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As time passes by we start to realize that everything is connected somehow. Even in history one thing leads to another, a domino effect. However, politics makes it impossible to have one answer to a simple question. Whether there is no answer, one answer, or two answers there is always opposition and consequences of those decisions. The impact of those decisions can either be seen right away or gradually build. Throughout the course of history, policies have been introduced, decisions have been taken, disagreements have been made, ideals have been questioned, concerns have risen, but the political system has lived through it all. A time period that became a critical period in shaping America’s political system was the Federalist Era while before that the Articles of Confederation displayed their significance.…

    • 1103 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In order for the United States to become a successful nation after the revolutionary war the Congress had to devise a system of government that would be just and effective. First, the articles of confederation were drawn up, but they failed massively. The major reason for failure was the excessive amount of power the states had over the federal government, creating a weak central government, and obviously, the states couldn’t function as a stable group. Unlike our current government, the articles relied on solely the congress with the executive and judicial offices nonexistent. With no executive office to enforce the laws, and no judicial wing to interpret them, most of the laws congress passed were ignored, or modified by the individual states,…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After reading the Federalist #10 paper, I found two statements that I thought were most important. The first was James Madison discussing the common people’s thought process. He believed the public’s complaints and dissatisfaction was inevitable due to the government’s instability. The publics common good and welfare will always be disregarded and not acknowledged to its full potential. He stated that outcomes and results were usually decided without accordance to justice. No one wanted to follow the rules either. Unfortunately, the minor parties are usually disregarded and go unrecognized and unheard.…

    • 915 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays