Federalism: How the Constitution Divides Power

Overview

This is a self-contained, no-technology substitute packet in which high-school students investigate federalism: how the U.S. Constitution divides government power among a national level (delegated powers), the state level (reserved powers), and powers shared by both (concurrent powers). Working alone with a pencil, students read short original summaries, study a three-column power diagram, do source analysis on brief public-domain constitutional text (the Tenth Amendment and Article I, Section 8), classify example powers as national, state, or concurrent, explain why the framers divided power, distinguish fact from interpretation and opinion, evaluate a claim, and write a source-based argument about how a scenario reflects federalism. The packet supports a ~50-minute standard version and a ~90-minute block version (the block adds a federal-vs-state conflict scenario and extended writing). Prompts are non-partisan and grounded in the text and neutral, established examples.

Accessible version of the student activity

The full student activity is reproduced below in plain, screen-reader-friendly HTML. It reflows on phones and at 200% zoom. Write your answers on the printed packet. Items marked [BLOCK] are for the ~90-minute version only.

Start (5 minutes) — Observe a source

Public-domain text — the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (ratified 1791), quoted in full: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." (Type: primary source, public domain, text of the U.S. Constitution; creator: the framers, ratified by the states; date: 1791; complete text of the amendment.)

1. Write one thing you notice about who gets the powers that are not given to the national government, and predict one kind of decision a state might get to make instead of the national government.
2. Why might a country divide power between a national government and state governments instead of giving it all to one? Give one reason in your own words.

Build (10–15 minutes) — Read the sources

Source A — How federalism divides power (written for this packet)

The United States uses federalism: one country with two levels of government — a national (federal) government and many state governments — and the Constitution decides which level may do what. Delegated (national) powers are given to the national government: e.g., coining money, declaring war, maintaining armed forces, running the postal system, and regulating trade between the states and with other nations. Reserved (state) powers are kept by the states: the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states powers not given to the national government and not forbidden to the states — e.g., running public schools, issuing driver's and marriage licenses, conducting elections, and setting up local governments. Concurrent (shared) powers are held by both levels at once: e.g., taxing, building roads, borrowing money, making and enforcing laws, and setting up courts. Why it is set up this way: the framers worried a single all-powerful government could threaten liberty, so by dividing power between national and state levels — and sharing some — they aimed to keep any one government from becoming too strong, let states meet local needs, and keep the country unified on national matters. (Type: original explanatory summary; focus: delegated, reserved, and concurrent powers.)

Source B — A short constitutional excerpt (public domain)

Genuine public-domain text from the U.S. Constitution, opening the list of powers given to Congress: "The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States…" (U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8.) (Type: primary source, public domain; creator: the framers, ratified by the states; only the opening portion is shown.)

Source C — A federal-vs-state scenario [BLOCK]

An original, neutral scenario (not a real case): a national law sets one uniform safety rule for a product sold nationwide, while a particular state has a stricter rule for that product sold inside the state. Under the Constitution's Supremacy Clause (Article VI), valid national law is the "supreme Law of the Land," so where a valid national law and a state law genuinely conflict on a matter the national government may regulate, the national law generally controls — but many everyday matters are left to the states, which keep their reserved powers. (Type: original scenario, illustrative and neutral; focus: how shared and divided power can raise a national-vs-state question.)

Word bank

federalism

a system dividing power between a national government and state governments.

delegated power

a power the Constitution gives to the national government (also called enumerated).

reserved power

a power kept by the states, per the Tenth Amendment.

concurrent power

a power held by both the national and state governments at the same time.

national government

the central (federal) government of the whole United States.

state government

the government of an individual state.

Supremacy Clause

Article VI text making valid national law supreme where it conflicts with state law.

ratify

to formally approve, as the states approved the Constitution and its amendments.

cause

a reason something happens; it comes before an effect.

effect

a result or consequence of a cause.

fact

a statement that can be checked and shown true or false.

interpretation

an explanation of what evidence means; reasoned from facts.

opinion

a personal belief or preference; not proven by evidence.

3. Using the diagram, list one power from each column: national, concurrent (shared), and state.

Apply (20–25 minutes) — Analyze the sources

4. Classify each example power as national (N), state (S), or concurrent (C): (a) coin money; (b) run public schools; (c) collect taxes; (d) declare war; (e) issue driver's and marriage licenses.
5. Source analysis of the Article I, Section 8 excerpt (Source B): which branch of the national government does it give powers to, name one power it says Congress "shall have," and identify the type of source (primary or secondary? public domain?).
6. Why the framers divided power (cause and effect): using Source A, name one cause (a framer worry) and two effects that dividing power was meant to produce.
7. In 2–3 sentences, explain why the framers divided power: name one cause and one effect it was meant to produce.
8. Fact (F), interpretation (I), or opinion (O)? Mark each:
   • a) The Tenth Amendment says powers not given to the national government are reserved to the states.
   • b) The framers probably divided power partly because they feared one government becoming too strong.
   • c) State governments are more important than the national government.
   • d) Both the national and state governments can collect taxes.
9. Evaluate a claim: a student claims "Only the national government is allowed to tax; states cannot tax at all." Do the sources support it? Choose: (A) Yes — Source A lists taxing as a national-only power; (B) No — Source A lists taxing as a concurrent power held by both the national and state governments; (C) The sources never mention taxes. Then explain your choice with one detail from Source A or Source B.
10. [BLOCK] Using Source C, explain what happens when a valid national law and a state law genuinely conflict on a matter the national government may regulate, and name the clause that settles it.

Explain (10–20 minutes) — Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

Question 11. Scenario: a state sets its public-school rules and issues driver's licenses, while the national government coins the money everyone uses and both governments collect taxes. How does this scenario reflect federalism? Write a claim that states how the scenario shows federalism, support it with two pieces of evidence from the sources or diagram, then explain your reasoning. Ground your answer in the text and examples. Sentence stems: "This scenario reflects federalism because power is divided into ______."; "One piece of evidence is… (from Source A / B or the diagram)."; "A second piece of evidence is…"; "This evidence supports my claim because…"

[BLOCK] Extended writing: using Source C, describe a situation where a valid national law and a state law conflict on a matter the national government may regulate, explain which level's law generally controls and name the clause (the Supremacy Clause, Article VI) that settles it, and explain how this still fits a federal system in which states keep their reserved powers.

Close (5 minutes) — ACE

• Articulate: explain in your own words what federalism is.
• Connect: point to one national power and one state power from the diagram or Source A, and name a power shared by both.
• Extend: name one everyday thing (a license, a school, or money) and say whether a national or state government mainly handles it, and why.

Continue (optional, ~15 minutes) — Early finisher

Sort three more powers as national, state, or concurrent, with a one-line reason for each from Source A: (1) running the postal system, (2) conducting elections, and (3) borrowing money.

Turn in

Hand in the whole packet with your name, class period, and date, with questions 1–11 and the ACE box answered (skip [BLOCK] items if you did the standard version). Include the optional early-finisher task if you did it.