Federal v. State—Who Has
the Power?
• What is federalism?
• Why is there tension between the federal
government and state governments?
• What are examples of this tension
throughout America’s history?
Federalism
• The sharing of powers between two units:
federal government and state government
• Each unit has the final authority in different
areas
• Citizens have obligations to both units
Bill of Rights, 1791
The 10th Amendment
reserved rights to states; it
was ratified as protection
against tyrannical
government.
The Bill of Rights to the U.S. Constitution, December 15, 1791.
Records of the General Assembly, Executive Communications, Record Group 78, Library of Virginia.
Virginia and
Kentucky
Resolutions,
1798
Reaction to the
Alien and Sedition
Act introduced the
idea of interposition—the right
of a state to nullify a
federal law.
VIRGINIA. Published in Jedidiah Morse, The American Universal
Geography. 3rd edition. 1796. Alan M. Voorhees Collection at the
Library of Virginia.
Hartford Convention, 1814
Federalists
from New
England
threatened
to secede.
The Hartford Convention or Leap No Leap / Wm. Charles, Sc. [Philadelphia : s.n.,] c1814. Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002708988/
Nullification Crisis,
1832
John C. Calhoun rejected the
high tariffs and instituted a
nullification plan that allowed
states to reject a law or
secede.
John C. Calhoun, by G. P. A. Healy, in the Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Virginia New York World's Fair Commission. Prints &
Photographs. Library of Virginia.
Virginia Convention,
1861
Delegates met to debate
whether Virginia would join
the seven other states that
had already seceded from
the Union.
David Hunter Strother, Pending the Ordinance, Pierre Morand Memorial, Special Collections, Library of Virginia.
Robert Latané Montague
Image from composite photograph of
members of the Virginia Legislature, 1874.
Virginia. General Assembly. House of
Delegates. Library of Virginia.
Waitman Thomas Willey
Hon. Waitman Thomas Willey of VA. [between 1855
and 1865]. Library of Congress Prints and
Photographs Division.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/brh2003004376/PP/
Waitman Willey’s Speech
March 4, 1861
1. What document does not allow for
secession?
2. According to Willey, who has more
power: the federal government or
a state?
3. Why did he think so?
Robert Montague’s Speech,
April 2, 1861
1. According to Montague, does the
federal government have the
power to stop secession?
2. What is Montague’s response to
Willey’s argument against
secession?
The "Secession Movement," New York: Published by Currier & Ives, c1861. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs
Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2003674576/
Debate!
• Should the states have the right to
secede?
• Does the federal government have the
right to put down “rebellion” in states that
secede?