d. While it is widely believed that federalism as a principle was the brainchild of the founding fathers of the United States of America, reference to federalism in an unrefined form was documented in the early 1600s. It was in this time period that the Jewish convenant in response to social and religious persecution created a new doctrine of federal theology based on the idea of a mutual obligation between the ruler and the ruled (Wijemanne, 1999). Essentially this was the very first division of powers, and shared control over an area by two levels of government, all be it in a very crude form. A more contemporary and widely accepted approach regarding the birth of federalism is that it was essentially created with the Declaration of Independence and the gradual confederation of the American states in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The United States fits the mold most common with Federal states. Federalism was first implemented in the United States because America contained a large plot of land which was filled with a very diverse population. Typically the only way to unite a heterogeneous population is through a federal government because it is the only way to articulate and protect regional interests. As the United States evolved so did federalism as an ideology and as a political practice. Constant amendments to the constitution created the ever evolving division of power. As federalism became more accepted it constantly was reformed as it passed through a number of stages inherent to the time period. The first stage was the confederal stage. At this early point in time the states retained sovereign power, while the weak national government was at their whim. The confederal stage was present at the time of the Declaration of Independence. As time progressed the states developed powers within a certain sphere, while the national government developed powers contained within a different sphere. Gradually the states gave...
