3.1

In section 3.1 the main learning objective was to trace the roots of the federal system and the constitution's allocation of governmental powers. In the very beginning the United States Articles of Confederation were based off of a confederation. A confederation is where the national government derives all of its powers from the states. This type of government was an issue because the national government was unable to control and react to even the smallest of crises. An example of a crisis that the government couldn't control was Shay's Rebellion. After they realized there were many problems with the Articles of Confederation the government changed to a different type of government. The government couldn't be unitary system as found in Great Britain because people were afraid of the strong national government. That is when they decided to use federalism. Federalism is a government in which National and state Governments derive authority from people. An example of this is that our Governor and President are both elected by the vote of people. Both the national and state governments have their own set of powers. State governments have the reserved powers. The states reserved powers are to legislate for the public health, safety, and morals of their citizens. they also have the power to tax. An example of this is that many states put restrictions on abortions. The national and state governments have concurrent powers. Concurrent powers are the power to tax, borrow money, establish courts, and etc. The national government can coin money, establish post offices, declare and conduct war, establish rules of naturalization, and much more. An example of one of the National powers is that if they decide that a small town doesn't have a post office, but it would be a good place for one they can go and build it. All of these powers and rights are referred to under the constitution and can be be interpreted there when there is a question of who is in power.