Government Essay A.P. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 Essay #2
Several parts of the Constitution have important implications for federalism. The Supremacy Clause, The Tenth Amendment, and the Necessary and Proper Clause are some of the more important ones.
The Supremacy Clause states, “This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” The Supremacy Clause establishes the Constitution, Federal Statutes, and U.S. treaties as "the supreme law of the land." The Constitution is the highest form of law in the American legal system. State judges are required to uphold it, even if state laws or constitutions conflict with it. Without the Supremacy Clause, Federalism would not be so. It is this very clause that allows the Federal and State Governments to be a federalist system. Federalism is the system of government in which power is divided between a central government and the government of each state. Before the U.S. Constitution was written, each American state was sovereign. The U.S. Constitution created a federal government with sufficient powers that both represents and unite the states, but did not supplant state governments.  
The Tenth Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” The Tenth Amendment makes the idea that the federal government is limited only to the powers granted in the Constitution, is generally recognized to be a truism. This amendment gives states, or people, the right to any power not stated in the Constitution that is Constitutional. This Amendment is essential to Federalism because it limits the power of the Federal Government. It is what...