be the limits on all three branches of government, and articles 9 & 10 describe the limits on the national government. This again was to serve, as further proof of the founder’s intent to limit the possibility of an oppressive central government. The third concept, federalism, is the relationship of power between the states and federal government. The fundamental argument was where the power would lie between them. The states were always very concerned that the central government would pose a threat to their way of life, particularly the large states in regard to representation in the legislature, which was the most powerful of the three branches. The text states that, “emphasis on government programs in the early years of democracy revolved around assistance, promotion and encouragement- the allocation of land or capital where they were insufficiently available for economic development”. The results of ratification left the federal government with only a small amount of power which included the sponsorship of supplying the public goods, encouraging the settlement of western land, raising and maintaining a nation army, regulation of tariffs on imported goods, and regulation of currency. Almost no coercion on the part of the national government directly affected the colonists. Essential to the framework of the Constitution was the idea of dual federalism, which dictated that both the states and the federal government had dual sovereignty under the Constitution. In fact, the states ended up with a considerable amount of power retained after ratification.The idea of an extended commercial republic was one in which the power and freedoms would be extended to the people under a federal system. The commercial republic was the people under a representative democracy. Under the states before ratification, the people were subject to the will of the states, with no recourse. For example, before Article IV, which desc...
