and James Madison said that the Union was little more than a confederation and that real power remained with the states. By the 1850s, the debate focused on whether slavery was a matter for national or state policy. The civil war was a sign that federalism needed to evolve. The confederacy challenged the supremacy of the national government and lost. The question of nullification was laid to rest by force of arms. Power flowed outward dramatically from state governments. The adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments ended slavery, defined national citizenship, limited the power of the states in the areas of civil rights and liberties, and established the preeminence of the Constitution over the states. The states sacrificed their power to rebel, inching away from dual federalism.The civil war was also a big tangle of equality, order and freedom. Slaves were fighting for freedom, Lincoln and the Union were fighting to bring all the states together as equals, and states were fighting for freedom as well as attempting to maintain order. Southern states saw slavery as the way to peace and prosperity. The north saw the way to reconciliation through emancipation of the slaves and the Union. The thirteenth amendment abolished slavery in 1865, promoting freedom and equality, and the fourteenth amendment made citizens of the states American citizens. The fifteenth amendment guaranteed the vote to blacks, making them political equals, or so it was hoped. It also served to acknowledge their freedom, but they would have to fight for it well until the 1960s. So the arm of the national government extends to level the playing field, to set equality standards so that everyone has a chance to get ahead. The result is that no particular state strays too far from the norm.Around the turn of the century, the national government took more of a part in economic development, expanding its role in regulating commerce. The Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 ...
