After the Revolutionary War, the American states were independent from Great Britain. They needed to create a system of government to run this new nation. The first system created was known as the Articles of Confederation and was adopted by the Congress on November 15, 1777. In its final form, the Articles of Confederation were comprised of a preamble and 13 articles. The Articles of Confederation were finally ratified by the last of the 13 American states, Maryland, in 1781 and became the ruling document in the new nation. The Articles created a nation that was "a league of friendship and perpetual union." The state governments retained most of the power under the Articles, with little power given to the central government. Congress, for example, had to rely upon the states for its funds

On May 25th 1787, The Constitutional Convention opened at Independence Hall in Philadelphia with seven states being represented. Few days later, delegates from four other states arrived. A government that will pay its debts and maintain a stable currency system would serve the personal financial interest of the delegates.

In conclusion, federalism is when the federal government and the state government have certain powers reserved to them and powers that are shared. Federalism limits the power of government by delegating specific powers to the different levels of government. Federalism creates various levels of government (national and state), but specifies limits on each levels' powers. The national government would be granted the ability to make laws only over certain areas. The rest of the decisions would be left to the states.

One other example was in 1922 when the courts rule that commerce disregards state lines. By 1922, the Court ruled that commerce as a unit disregards state lines and national control of commerce is not an invasion of state authority. However, state laws affecting health tended to be upheld in face of this.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1145
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)