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A FEDERAL LEGAL SYSTEM：Overview
The American legal system has several layers， more possibly than in most other nations. One reason is the division between federal and state law. To understand this， it helps to recall that the United States was founded not as one nation，but as a union of 13 colonies， each claiming independence from the British Crown. The Declaration of Independence （1776） thus spoke of“the good People of these Colonies” but also pronounced that “these United Colonies are， and of Right ought to be， FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES.” The tension between one people and several states is a perennial theme in American legal history. As explained below， the U.S. Constitution （adopted 1787， ratified 1788） began a gradual and at times hotly contested shift of power and legal authority away from the states and toward the federal government. Still， even today states retain substantial authority. Any student of the American legal system must understand how jurisdiction is apportioned between the federal government and the states.
The Constitution fixed many of the boundaries between federal and state law. It also divided federal power among legislative， executive， and judicial branches of government （thus creating a “separation of powers”
between each branch and enshrining a system of “checks-and-balances”
to prevent any one branch from overwhelming the others）， each of which contributes distinctively to the legal system. Within that system， the Constitution delineated the kinds of laws that Congress might pass.
As if this were not sufficiently complex， U.S. law is more than the statutes passed by Congress. In some areas， Congress authorizes administrative agencies to adopt rules that add detail to statutory requirements. And the entire system rests upon the traditional legal principles found in English Common Law. Although both the Constitution and statutory law supersede common law， courts continue to apply unwritten common law principles to fill in the gaps where the Constitution is silent and Congress has not legislated.
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