The "United States" Vs. "America" - a Structural Political Analysis

Federalism Vs. Anti-Federalism

The United States of America. In general, the very name of the country is now far removed from its meaning. The country of the United States has been subtly replaced by "America," a mega-state of all the states. We think of ourselves as "Americans" above all, and state members like "Californians" or "Floridians" as a side note. However, that was not the intent of the creation of the United States, and the federal government superseding the states is an aberration that the Constitution was designed to prevent - as the founders knew history, and some feared the day when the United States would become one country as it is now. Is it any wonder they feared such a thing, given the current State of the Union with its ever-consolidating power?

The issue of "States' Rights" that we learned about in jr. high history was about this very issue, the right of a state to declare a federal law null and void within that state. The Civil War was quite possibly about this issue more than any other. Slavery is what we are taught to be at the root of the Civil War, but really, the real cause may likely have been the battle for state's rights - the right of states to remain the autonomous entities they originally were prior to the Constitution, and the Federal portion of government remaining relegated to maintaining a loose unity (confederacy) among them for mutual benefit. Issues such as common defense, the basic structure for a common law, and ensuring free trade and travel between the states were paramount.

The role of the federal government was meant to be one of very general administration. That's why the Constitution had to be ratified by each state individually. Each wanted to make sure that in this common administration, no state would have an advantage over any other, particularly in interstate commerce. Each state, then, could adapt its own internal administration to suit the specific wishes of its own citizens without adversely affecting any other state. If it could affect another state adversely, then Federal Law would have authority to right the wrong - that was the intended extent of Federal power as stated in the Constitution.