This page contains an English translation of an essay that I wrote in German in 1997 while attending the Goethe Institut in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany. Every student in my class had to write and present a speech, and I chose as my topic a tiny slice of American history.

Most of the students in my class at the Goethe Institut were Europeans from various countries, and I was interested in the process Europe was going through to move the European Union forward. This short essay describes the process that the states of the U.S. went through to arrive at the current balance of power between the states and the center.

Here's the original German version.

Although today, the balance of power between the United States Federal government and the governments of the individual states is stable, achieving this balance required much debate, struggle, and blood.

In 1776, representatives from the thirteen British colonies that lined the eastern shore of the “New World” met in Philadelphia. Here, they drew up a document called the “Declaration of Independence.” This document listed grievances the colonies had against England and unilaterally severed ties with the British Empire. They sent this document to the British King George, who responded by launching a war on the renegade colonies.

As an independent country, the former colonies--now “states”--had to figure out how they would govern themselves. In 1776, representatives from each state met drew up the “Articles of Confederation.” This document gave the new country its name, “United States of America,” and from 1781 served as its first constitution.

The Articles of Confederation established a central government and defined the rights and powers of the center versus the rights and powers of the states. The government was a “confederation”--a loosely bound collection of individual states. Under this document, the central government of the United States did not have very strong powers. For example, the central government could not directly tax the people. The center relied on the individual state governments for all its revenues.

Throughout the war with Britain, when all the states had a common enemy and a common purpose to fight for, the Articles of Confederation functioned. But after the war ended, certain problems arose with the day to day workings of the central government. For example, the central government had difficulties with its revenue stream, because many states withheld funds to protest policies they didn’t like. To many people, it became apparent that the Articles of Confederation needed to be amended.

In 1787, the second “Constitutional Convention” was held in Philadelphia, with the express purpose of amending the Articles of Confederation. However, the Articles was not simply amended. It was thrown out and completely replaced. The new document was called “The Constitution of the United States of America.”

In this document, the United States’ second constitution, the central government was given more rights and more powers than it had under the Articles of Confederation. There was much debate and disagreement about the new constitution, but in 1789 the new constitution was ratified by 3/4 of the states and became the law of the land. With the addition of several amendments, this constitution, and the system it established, is still in force in the United States today.

In 1860, the system established by the U.S. Constitution received its greatest challenge when seven Southern states seceded from the union. This secession was caused by many factors, but a large factor was the disagreement over “states rights”--the balance of power between the center and the individual states. The southern states that seceded were in favor of a weaker center. These states formed another confederation, called the “Confederate States of America.”

The remaining states of the United States, the “North” declared war on the “rebellious” states of the South. This American civil war, lasted four years and resulted in great casualties.

Mark Twain, the American author of Huckleberry Finn and other books, said the Civil War was fought over whether “United States” should be singular or plural.

Before the Civil War, if you asked someone from the “New World” what was their nationality, they would be likely to answer, “I’m a Virginian.” Or “I’m a Pennsylvanian.” After the Civil War, “New Worlders” were more likely to answer, “I’m an American.”

Through almost 100 years of debate, struggle, and four years of spilled blood during the civil war, “United States” was established to be singular.