Today, we refer to the National government as the Federal government which is an inaccurate description of who they are and what they are supposed to do. A Federal government is one where the political power is divided between the states and the national government. In a Federal government the states have nearly limitless power and the National government has a short list of delegated powers.
The role of the states is protect the people from the abuse of power by the national government and the purpose of the national government to exercise the powers delegated to them by the legislatures of the states.
A federal government was established by the Constitution to secure the lives, liberty and property of the people. The states created a federal government where a short list of well defined powers were delegated to the national government. Any power not enumerated in the Constitution was reserved to the states and the people.
When the supporters of the Constitution labeled themselves as Federalist they should have been called the Nationalists. They inaccurately hijacked the name that should associated with the Anti Federalists.
When the 17th Amendment was ratified the states lost their sovereignty and the position of superiority they had over the national government
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