OConnor and Sabato, Chapter 3: Federalism

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OConnor and Sabato, Chapter 3 Federalism

• Presentation 3.2 The Evolution of Federalism

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Key Topics

• Early Pronouncements (Nation-Building,
  1788-1835)
• Dual Federalism (1835-1934)
• The Civil War Beyond
• The 16th 17th Amendments
• The New Deal (Cooperative Federalism)

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Introduction

• The federalism is fundamentally a struggle for
  power and influence among multiple partners
• National govt. vs. state governments
• Nationalists vs. states rights advocates
• Long alternating periods where one side or the
  other has dominated
• The critical role of the Supreme Court as
  interpreter/defender of the Constitution

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1) Early PronouncementsNation-Building, 1788-1835

• The relative inactivity of the Supreme Court
  between 1788-1800
• John Marshalls appointment to chief justice led
  to a period of judicial activity that helped
  create a strong national govt.
• Important rulings in McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
  Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

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Founder ProfileJohn Marshall (1755-1835)

• Fought in the Revolutionary War
• Ardent federalist opponent of his cousin,
  Thomas Jefferson
• John Adams Secretary of State, elevated to the SC
  in 1800

John Marshall, 4th Chief Justice Picture
courtesy From Revolution to Reconstruction
website
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1a) McColloch v. Maryland

• National banks as the brainchild of Alexander
  Hamilton as a way of handling the national debt
• The controversial nature of the 2nd National Bank
  of the United States
• States did not like national banks
• Viewed as an infringement of state power

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1ai) McCulloch cont.

• Maryland passed a law requiring all banks not
  chartered by Maryland to
• Buy expensive stamped paper
• Pay 15,000 per year
• Go out of business
• James McCulloch refused, and Maryland brought suit

James McCulloch, cashier. Picture courtesy
From Revolution to Reconstruction Website
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1aii) Key Issues

• Did Congress have the authority to charter a
  national bank?
• Not clearly established in Article I
• If so, did the states have the power to tax
  federal entities?
• Defenders argued that the 10th Amendments
  reserved powers clause gave states this
  authority

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1aiii) Marshalls Decision

• Distinguished between enumerated and implied
  powers
• The federal govt. could not be limited to what
  was written down
• The power to charter a bank would further
  Congresss ability to regulate commerce
• Article 1, Sec. 8s necessary and proper clause
  as the constitutional justification

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1aiv) Can States Tax Federal Entities?

• Marshall the power to tax implies the power to
  destroy
• Granting states the power to destroy federal
  entities would undermine the sovereign power of
  the national govt.
• State tax violates Article VIs supremacy clause

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1b) Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

• Both NY and NJ wanted to monopolize river traffic
  on the Hudson River
• Simple question what was the scope of the
  Congress authority to regulate commerce?

Voyage of Robert Fultons Claremont. Picture
courtesy Robert Fulton website
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1bi) Gibbons cont.

• States argued for a very narrow interpretation of
  commerce
• Wanted the court to interpret commerce only to
  involve direct dealings in products (as opposed
  to actual trafficking of products)
• The Court, however, adopted a very expansive
  interpretation of commerce

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1bii) Gibbons cont.

• The opinion of the Court was that the commerce
  clause must be very broad in order for Congress
  to truly regulate commerce
• Therefore, Congress commerce powers were
  limited only to explicitly denied powers
  (favoring one state over another)
• The Court struck down NYs monopoly grant

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2) Dual Federalism (1835-1932)

• Marshalls retirement the appointment of Roger
  Taney ushered in a new era of federalism
• Taney, appointed by Andrew Jackson, was an ardent
  advocate of states rights

Roger Taney (1777-1864), architect of dual
federalism.
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2i) Dual Federalism in a Nutshell

• A legal interpretation of federalism based on the
  belief that the national and state government
  occupied separate and distinct zones of
  sovereignty
• Based on this belief, the national govt. should
  not exceed its enumerated powers
• Also called layer-cake federalism

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2a) Federalism and Slavery

• During Taneys tenure on the Supreme Court
  (1835-1863), slavery was the most controversial
  issue
• A growing movement in the North viewed slavery as
  immoral, and Southerners were angered by the
  assault on their peculiar institution
• The Court attempted to settle the issue

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2ai) Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)

• The key issue did a slave become free once they
  had lived in free territory?

Dred Scott, 1800-1857. Picture courtesy Encarta
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2aii) Dred Scott cont.

• Taney declared that slaves had no rights that
  white persons had to respect
• Also struck down the Missouri Compromise
• Expanded the power of the states and proscribed
  the power of the national govt.
• Hastened the march toward civil war

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2aiii) The Caning of Charles Sumner
In 1859, Senator Charles Sumner was brutally
caned by SC Rep. Preston Brooks after Sumner
delivered a speech denouncing slavery that was
considered libelous to SC Sen. Andrew Pickens
Butler, a Brooks family friend. Picture courtesy
CSA Net Great Southern Men
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2b) The Civil War and BeyondDual Federalisms
2nd Phase

• The Civil war dramatically increased the power of
  the federal govt.
• However, the Supreme Court persisted in its
  application of dual federalism
• Despite the passage of numerous constitutional
  amendments that should have changed the nature of
  federalism, dual federalism remained in place
  between 1865-1933

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2bi) Amendments that Affected Federalism,
1865-1920
Red indicates a Civil War-era amendment, while
blue indicates a Progressive Era Reform
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2bii) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

• Civil rights groups challenged the legality of LA
  segregation law
• Argued that separation of the races violated the
  14th Amendments equal protection clause
• Southern states argued that they could use their
  police powers to protect the races by
  separating them

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2biii) Plessy cont.

• The majority of the Supreme Court agreed with the
  states
• Concluded that so long as public facilities were
  separate but equal, states were not violating
  the 14th Amendments equal protection clause
• Opened the door to wholesale segregation
  throughout the South

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2biv) Famous Dissent

• Justice John Marshall Harlan disagreed with the
  majority
• Argued in a dissenting opinion that The
  Constitution is color-blind

John Marshall Harlan, 1833-1911. Picture
courtesy www.ripon.edu.
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2bv) The Rise of Jim Crow as a Result of Plessy

• Separate-but-equal justified southern
  disfranchisement oppression of
  African-Americans
• Thousands of African-Americans were lynched
  between 1880-1950

Picture courtesy Americanlynching.com
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2bv) Dual Federalism cont.

• In the late 19th century, the Supreme Court began
  to allow the federal govt. to regulate commerce
• However, its commitment to dual federalism often
  led to confusion
• States could not tax gasoline used by federal
  vehicles
• Federal govt. could not tax the sale of
  motorcycles to city police departments

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2bvi) Dual Federalism cont.

• The Progressive Era led to the establishment of
  several regulatory commissions and laws
• Interstate Commerce Act (1887)
• Sherman Anti-Trust Act (1890)
• However, the Court continued to prevent other
  interventionist efforts to regulate the economy

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2c) The 16th 17th Amendments

• The Framers did not raise the issue of a national
  income tax
• Until the 20th century, the primary revenue
  stream for the federal govt. were tariffs
• Abraham Lincoln proposed the first income tax
• Used to help fund the war effort
• Allowed to lapse in the 1870s

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2ci) The 16th Amendment

• Ratified by the states in 1913 gave Congress the
  power to levy collect taxes
• Gave the national govt. access to enormous
  resources
• Removed a major restraint on governmental power
• Also removed incentives for imposing tariffs
  (facilitating free trade)

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2cii) The 17th Amendment

• Another Progressive Era reform designed to
  strengthen the national govt. weaken the power
  of state legislatures
• Ended state legislatures selection of senators
• Put power in the hands of the people by calling
  for state-wide election of senators
• States lost their main protectors in Congress
• State legislatures were typically dominated by
  one economically powerful interest in most states

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3) The New Deal its Effect on Federalism

• Dual federalism ended as a result of national
  economic crisis
• A series of events culminating in the Great
  Depression convinced Americans that the national
  govt. needed to actively combat the crisis
• Ushered in a period called cooperative federalism
  (a.k.a. layer-cake federalism)

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3i) Economic Crises, 1921-1929

• 1921 severe deflation of agricultural prices
• 1926 construction industry reports significant
  decline
• Summer 1929 inventories of consumer goods
  reported at an all-time high
• Increasing number of bank failures throughout the
  1920s
• 10/29/1929 stock market collapses

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3ii) Hallmarks of a Depression

• Deflation of currency
• Indicator of a loss of consumer confidence in the
  basic value of the currency
• Bank failures prompted by panicked customers
  withdrawing their savings
• High unemployment
• In some states ¾ eligible workforce unemployed

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3a) The New Deal

• Franklin Roosevelt was elected in 1932 on the
  promise for direct, vigorous leadership
• Proposed a New Deal for ordinary Americans
• Led to sweeping reforms

FDR, 1882-1945. Picture courtesy FDR website
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3ai) The Effect of the New Deal on Federalism

• Dramatically enlarged the power of the national
  govt.
• Proposed the creation of a welfare state w/
  extensive regulation of the economy
• Quickly led to legal challenges by those who
  feared that FDR was converting the U.S. into a
  socialist dictatorship

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3aii) The Supreme Courts Response to the New Deal

• The Supreme Courts commitment to a laissez faire
  (hands-off) relationship between govt. and the
  economy
• Viewed the depression as a problem for the states
  to be resolved by the states
• Therefore, ruled many provisions of the New Deal
  unconstitutional

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3b) Democratic Response

• FDR and Congress were angry at the Supreme
  Courts arrogance and judicial activism
• Proposed a court packing law
• Give the president the power to nominate a new
  justice for every sitting justice over the age of
  75
• Would have quickly given him a majority on the
  Court

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3bi) The Failure of the Court-Packing Plan

• FDR was popular, but his plan was viewed as
  tampering with important traditions
• The plan failed, but the Supreme Court began to
  reverse itself, and began ruling New Deal
  legislation constitutional
• Dramatically broadened the historical
  interpretation of the commerce clause
  rediscovered the necessary proper clause

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3c) The Politics of Cooperative Federalism

• The New Deal provided incentives for all levels
  of govt. to cooperate with each other
• Local govts. were a primary beneficiary became
  enthusiastic supporters
• The New Deal redistributed enormous resources
  integrated state, local national govts. in ways
  not previously attempted

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3d) Omissions in the New Deal

• The New Deal was not a complete success
• Republicans blocked some of the most ambitious
  parts of the New Deal
• The New Deal was silent on the issue of civil
  rights