National Powers versus State Powers Essay

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Political Science

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Hezekiah Rose

November 29, 2020

The argument between national powers versus state powers are based on the powers

given to each. State Powers basically, refer to police power, and the capacity of a state to

regulate behaviors and enforce order within its territory. National Powers have the authority to

levy and collect taxes, coin money, make war, raise an army and navy, and to regulate commerce

among states. One argument between the powers comes into reality is when the national powers

intervene with the powers of the state. According to Dave Roos, “Under the Constitution, the

state legislatures retain much of their sovereignty to pass laws as they see fit, but the federal

government also has the power to intervene when it suits the national interest. And under the

“supremacy clause” found in Article VI, federal laws and statutes supersede state law.” This

basically means that whenever there is something that is out of the states power “pay grade” is

when the national power takes over without permission.

The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was a protest of the Tariff of 1828, also

known as the Tariff of Abominations. It also stated Calhoun's Doctrine of nullification the idea

that a state has the right to reject federal law. Calhoun argued that the US Constitution was based

on a pact by 13 sovereign states. He thought that if the Constitution was established by 13

sovereign states then each state had the right to nullify or reject a federal law that it considered

unconstitutional. The historical context related to this document was the nullification crisis,

Nullification Proclamation introduced by Pres. Andrew Jackson, and the Force Act. President

Andrew Jackson issued a Proclamation to the People of South Carolina that disputed a states'

right to nullify a federal law. “Jackson's proclamation was written in response to an ordinance

issued by a South Carolina convention that declared that the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 "are

unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and violate the true meaning and are null,

void, and no law, nor binding upon this State." After Jackson issued his proclamation, Congress

passed the Force Act that authorized the use of military force against any state that resisted the

tariff acts. In 1833, Henry Clay helped Calhoun compromise a bill that slowly lowered tariffs

over the next decade. The Compromise Tariff of 1833 was eventually accepted by South

Carolina and ended the nullification crisis.

The Kentucky Resolutions was written to declare that states had the rights to declare laws

passed by congress to be unconstitutional. These resolutions were passed by the legislatures of

Kentucky and Virginia in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Kentucky and

Virginia Resolutions held that the Alien and Sedition Acts should be null and void because they

violated numerous provisions of the Federal Constitution. “The Resolutions declared that the

several states are united by compact under the Constitution, that the Constitution limits federal

authority to certain enumerated powers, that congressional acts exceeding those powers are

infractions of the Constitution.” The Virginia Resolution of 1798 also relied on the compact

theory and asserted that the states have the right to determine whether actions of the federal

government exceed constitutional limits. The Virginia Resolution introduced the idea that the

states may interpose when the federal government acts unconstitutionally. The resolutions were

an early defense of the Constitution’s protection of civil liberties, especially freedom of speech

and of the press.

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Hezekiah Rose November 29, 2020 The argument between national powers versus state powers are based on the powers given to each. State Powers basically, refer to police power, and the capacity of a state to regulate behaviors and enforce order within its territory. National Powers have the authority to levy and collect taxes, coin money, make war, raise an army and navy, and to regulate commerce among states. One argument between the powers comes into reality is when the national powers intervene with the powers of the state. According to Dave Roos, “Under the Constitution, the state legislatures retain much of their sovereignty to pass laws as they see fit, but the federal government also has the power to intervene when it suits the national interest. And under the “supremacy clause” found in Article VI, federal laws and statutes supersede state law.” This basically means that whenever there is something that is out of the states power “pay grade” is when the national power takes over without permission. The South Carolina Exposition and Protest was a protest of the Tariff of 1828, also known as the Tariff of Abominations. It also stated Calhoun's Doctrine of nullification the idea that a state has the right to reject federal law. Calhoun argued that the US Constitution was based on a pact by 13 sovereign states. He thought that if the Constitution was established by 13 sovereign states then each state had the right to nullify or reject a federal law that it con ...
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Tags: collect taxes state powers South Carolina convention Federal Constitution Congressional Acts