What was federalism according to James Madison?

Answer 1

Federalism is a type of government in which governing authority is divided between a central authority and states of the nation. In the United States, that would be the federal government (The president, congress and the Supreme Court) and the governers of each state. This concept was not initially employed until a few years after the Revolution, but it was the basic idea of the kind of government that was wanted in America. One of the biggest complaints the colonists had was 'taxation without representation. The colonists had no representatives in Parliament to voice their opinions or interests in matters. James Madison was a member of the Continental Congress and the Continental Convention. He also was a contributer to the Federalist Papers, which argued the effectiveness of the Constitution before it was (ratified, not sure if that is the right word, basically it was when a majority of the states approved this type of government).