Why is the national government considered more powerful that the state governments?

Answer 1

The national government's power is greater than that of any individual state. This was made to have one unified country. Before the Constitution was created, there was the Articles of Confederation. This document gave immense power to the states because the colonists feared if they created a strong central government, that they would have another King George III. However, this plan proved to not be the best as it felt as if there were 13 different countries instead of one. The founding fathers then got back together to create a better constitution, and they came up with the Constitution. This piece of work proved to be an excellent form of government that has influenced countless other nations in the world today. However, the major difference between the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution is that the Constitution gave direct power to the national government instead of the states.

Answer 2

In 1786 Shay's rebellion showed Americans that they needed a stronger national government. Many knew this would be necessary anyway because if America was going to be on the world stage as a nation they would have to have a military and state department and so on. So in 1787 many of the founding fathers met in Philadelphia. This is where they drafted the constitution, essentially giving the federal government more power. Of course it was still a matter of opinion for some-so there was a century of court cases dealing with Federal government versus state governments, but ultimately the Civil War showed that states have to listen to the federal government