Early American Theories of Federalism

Abstract

While federalism is never without importance for the American citizen, it has taken on increased importance for the world at large in recent years. Numerous changes have been taking place during the past few years in the federal system of this country. At the same time the present state of world affairs has caused attention to be focused on federalism as a possible basis of world organization. It is therefore of especial interest to the present day student of government to know the general history of federal theory. The contributions of early American theorists constitute an important chapter of this history. The early history of the institutional developments of federal government on the North American Continent is already familiar to most American historians and political scientists. The general structures of the old British Empire and the other unions among the colonies, both actual and proposed, have been dealt with in standard works in the fields of American history and American government. However, the discussions of federalism which were contemporaneous with the various stages in the institutional developments have been little investigated. It is with these discussions therefore that this paper is primarily concerned.