 and the states were divided. The central government was specifically granted certain important powers while the power of the state governments was limited, and there were certain powers that they shared.
All those powers granted to the Federal Government by the U.S. Constitution are enumerated principally as powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8. These powers can be classified as either economic or military. As is known to all, economic and military power are fundamental and essential to a government. Possessing such powers, the U.S. central government was capable of controlling the country well, thus keeping up a stable political situation and promoting the economic development.
Economic powers delegated to the Federal Government include the authority to levy taxes, borrow money, regulate commerce, coin money, and establish bankruptcy laws. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution writes, “The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United State; …to borrow money on the credit of the United States; to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian tribes; to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures.” According to this stipulation, the Federal Government has gathered the most important economic power into its own hands: with the right to collect taxes directly, the Federal Government could pay its debt and provide funds for the nation’s common defense and general welfare; with the right to issue uniform currency and to determine the value of foreign currencies, the Federal Government could control the money supply and restrain inflation; with the right to regulate trade with foreign nations and among the states, the Federal Government became able to control th