American federalism is a form of government in which the constitution distributes governmental powers between the national government and the subsidiary governments of the states. Article I, Section 8, and the Tenth Amendment are good examples of this definition. In Article I, Section 8, the Constitution defines the powers delegated to the national government, such as the power to regulate commerce and to enact laws necessary and proper for the execution of its powers. The Tenth Amendment …showed first 75 words of 249 total…

…showed last 75 words of 249 total…evolve in many ways. In McCulloch v Maryland the necessary and proper clause from Article I, Section 8, was used to help reach a decision that shifted more power to national government. Article I, Section 8, was also important in the cases of Gibbons v Ogden and NLRB v Jones and Lauglin. Both of these cases resulted in shifts of power between the national government and the state governments, which is exactly how American federalism has evolved.