ABSTRACT
Federalism—the sharing of the powers of government between the national government and the governments of the states—along with the separation of powers, is one of the major contributions of the framers of the Constitution to the art and practice of government. For African Americans, at least until the 1960s civil rights revolution, federalism has had an ambivalent, contradictory effect on their quest for universal freedom. Therefore, one should probably qualify Riker's blanket condemnation of federalism because during the eras of slavery and segregation, it did provide some opportunity in the North for the exercise of limited forms of freedom. The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted after the Civil War to secure the freedom and equality of African Americans, has been central to the expansion of national-centered power, serving as the great charter of universal freedom for all Americans. It is generally accepted today that the whole people of the United States are sovereign and that acting collectively created the US government.
