of time has swept away the bugbear thoughts which
haunted the imaginations of the citizens in 1789. The federal power
is not become oppressive; it has not destroyed the independence of
the States; it has not subjected the confederates to monarchial
institutions; and the Union has not rendered the lesser States dependent
upon the larger ones; but the confederation has continued to increase in
population, in wealth, and in power. I am therefore convinced that the
natural obstacles to the continuance of the American Union are not so
powerful at the present time as they were in 1789; and that the enemies
of the Union are not so numerous.

Nevertheless, a careful examination of the history of the United States
for the last forty-five years will readily convince us that the federal
power is declining; nor is it difficult to explain the causes of this
phenomenon. *v When the Constitution of 1789 was promulgated, the
nation was a prey to anarchy; the Union, which succeeded this confusion,
excited much dread and much animosity; but it was warmly supported
because it satisfied an imperious want. Thus, although it was more
attacked than it is now, the federal power soon reached the maximum of
its authority, as is usually the case with a government which triumphs
after having braced its strength by the struggle. At that time the
interpretation of the Constitution seemed to extend, rather than to
repress, the federal sovereignty; and the Union offered, in several
respects, the appearance of a single and undivided people, directed in
its foreign and internal policy by a single Government. But to attain
this point the people had risen, to a certain extent, above itself.

[Footnote v: [Since 1861 the movement is certainly in the opposite
direction, and the federal power has largely increased, and tends to
further increase.]]

The Constitution had not destroyed the distinct sovereignty of the
States; and all communities, of whatever nature they may be, are
impelled by a secret propensity to assert their independence. This
propensity is still more decided in a country like America, in which
every village forms a sort of republic accustomed to conduct its own
affairs. It therefore cost the States an effort to submit to the federal
supremacy; and all efforts, however successful they may be, necessarily
subside with the causes in which they originated.

As the Federal Government consolidated its authority, America resumed
its rank amo