Explanation:

  When the 13 original states united (or came together) to make a new country, each of the states wanted to keep its powers and independence (or ability to make its own decisions). But the new federal (or national) government would also need some powers or else the states would not be able to work together as a new country. That is why the Constitution (our country’s most important legal document) specifies (or makes clear) certain powers for the federal government and others for the states.

  One of the powers of the federal government is to print money or to make the bills (or paper money) and coins (or metal money) that we use to buy and sell things. It makes sense that this is a federal power, because if each state could print its own money, then it would be very difficult to buy and sell things across state borders (or the lines drawn between states on a map, where one state ends and another state begins). When only the federal government can print money, all the states use the same type of currency (or the type of money used in a country).

  Another power of the federal government is to declare war (or to say that a war is beginning). Obviously this power should exist only at the national level, because it doesn’t make sense for one or two states to declare war against another country. Wars should happen only between countries.

  A third power of the federal government is to create an army (or the large group of people and organizations that fight to protect a country). States can have police that work within the state, but not armies that work internationally or in other countries.

  Finally, the federal government can make treaties (or official agreements between countries). For example, the United States is involved in NATO, spelled “N,” “A,” “T,”“O,” which stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations, at the national level. Individual states do not need to participate in NATO because the entire country participates in it at the federal level.

 

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