Structure of the Federal Court System

Web. 03 Mar. 2014. . "Levels of the Federal Courts." The Judicial Learning Center.

The Articles of Confederation on November 15, 1777 were accepted by Congress, but not ratified by all the states until March 1, 1781, Maryland was the last state to ratify. The Articles were a humble attempt to form a national government by a new country trying to unite itself. The Articles of Confederation, however, wanted the states to have the majority of the power. The Articles government was very weak, but this was done on purpose, because after finally gaining independence from Britain, they feared that a strong central government would lead to an empowerment of another monarchy. Alexander Hamilton called for a convention to be held in Massachusetts to advise congress to “render the constitution”.

In America, the states existed first, and they struggled to create a national government. Confideracy had been tried by the thirteen states under the Articles of confederation, and was found to be lacking, in that it did not provide adequate cohesiveness between the individual nation-states. The Articles of confederation establish a government but, limit the powers of the central government. This was a crucial flaw with the Articles of confederation, the central government had no power of national taxation, no power to control trade, and it provided for a comparatively weak executive. Therefore it could not enforce legislation or make states honor national obligations.

(2014, May 17). Retrieved from www.laws.com: http://constitution.laws.com/enumerated-powers

In addition, the states disagreed over... ... middle of paper ... ... An important aspect, though, is that the Constitution gave the central government enough power to keep the nation in order while still giving the states some independence. The Articles of Confederation established a league of friendship among the states, but not a political union. Each state remained separate and sovereign, which means that they were under self-rule (). The central government consisted of a one-chamber Congress, in which each state had a single vote. Congress had few powers, lacking even the authority to impose taxes.

Because the United States of America Constitution created the separation of power that is supported by a system of checks and balances, the United States of America government is arranged in a manner that allows for a well-organized, competent, and able government to govern the people. In the Constitution, the first three articles create a separation of power and a system of checks and balances intended for the United States of America government. In doing so, the Constitution makes certain that no governmental power is dominant and, thereby, protects the freedoms and rights of the people. By discussing Congressional Provisions in Article I, Americans received representative government in the form of a bicameral legislative composed of a Senate and a House of Representatives. While the n... ... middle of paper ... ...wer and the system of checks and balances, the federal government efficiently presides over the people.

The unitary system does not allow provinces, towns, parishes, or counties any power because all the decisions are at a national level. Federal system is established by the states to form their central government. The states and central government are empowered by the constitution which is administered by the judiciary. “Citizens tend to hold citizenship in a parallel manner, and have considerable power in legislature and enactments that are passed by state legislature so powerful and complex that every state has a different bar exam to qualify their own lawyers” (Scholasticus, 2010). The Founding Fathers chose the federal system of government when framing the Constitution because they felt it was just as important that the states government and the federal government will work together.

Even the antifederalists recognized that “…a government without the power to raise money is one only in name.” (Brutus, No.5) A political group emerged in favor of a new constitution and wrote of their ideas in the federalist papers. The new constitution would strengthen the central government but allow for its power to be checked while protecting the rights of the people. These papers were written by James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton and published in the late 1780’s at the same time as the anti-federalist papers published by a somewhat unknown “Brutus.” The federalists supported ratifying the new constitution while the antifederalists were mostly concerned with protecting the rights of the people and preventing the government from abusing power. A protection from abuse of power, established in the Constitution, is “the separation of power” which Madison writes about in Federalist Paper No. 51.

LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.

16 January 2014. . "Supreme Court Cases [Summary)." Supreme Court Cases (Summary). N.p., n.d. Web.