If the national government were dismembered, the States would be weak, helpless, at war with one another, and at the mercy of foreign nations.
The distribution of power among the several political organizations prevents any of them from assuming too much authority, and thus tends to preserve the liberties of the people.
FORMATION.--The national government is based upon the Constitution of the United States. It was formed by the union of the several States under the Constitution, and its powers are set forth in that instrument. The thirteen original States ratified the Constitution of the United States between December 7, 1787, and May 29, 1790, and thus organized the national government. It thus became, and has continued to be, the government of the whole people, "by the people and for the people."
FORM OF GOVERNMENT.
The national government, like the government of each State, is a republic; that is, the authority is exercised by the representatives of the people. As all power resides in the people, our government is called a democracy. As the people elect officers or representatives to act for them in the performance of public duties, it is called a representative democracy.
Our system of government is different from those of all other nations, because part of the political power is vested in the State, and part in the nation; that is, in the United States.
The national Constitution enumerates the powers which may be exercised by the national government, and reserves all other powers "to the States respectively, or to the people." Because of this dual or double character of our system of government, John Quincy Adams called it "a complicated machine."
PURPOSES.--The purposes of the national government are clearly and forcibly set forth in the "preamble," or opening clause, of the Constitution of the United States;
1. "To form a more perfect union;"
2. "To establish justice;"