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The federal entity created by the Constitution is by far the dominant feature of the American governmental system.But the system itself is in reality a mosaic,composed of thousands of smaller units----building blocks which together make up the whole.There are 50 state governments plus the government of the District of Columbia,and further down the ladder are still smaller units,governing counties,cities,towns and villages.
This multiplicity of governmental units is best understood in terms of the evolution of the United States.The federal system,it has been seen,was the last step in the evolutionary process.prior to its creation,there were the governments of the separate colonies(later states)and prior to those,the governments of counties and smaller units.One of the first tasks accomplished by the early English settlers was the creation of governmental units for the tiny settlements they established along the Atlantic coast.And as the new nation pushed westward each frontier outpost created its own government to manage its affairs.
Before independence,each colony was governed separately by the British Crown.In the early years of the republic,prior to the adoption of the Constitution,each state was virtually an autonomous unit.The delegates to the Constitutional Convention sought a stronger,more viable federal union,but they were also intent on safeguarding the rights of the states.