OED (Oxford English Dictionary)
[a. F. fédéral, f. L. type *f(ae)der(aa)l-is, f. f(ae)der-, f(ae)dus: Covenant (:- pre-Lat. *bhoidhes-) cognate with fid(ee)s: FAITH.]
As an adjective and a noun:
-1. a) Of or pertaining to a Covenant, Compact, or Treaty.
In 1660, STILLINGFL. Iren. I. iv. (1662) 91.
"The Sprinkling of the Blood which was the main thing intended here as a Federal Rite."
In 1701, GREW Cosm. Sacra III. iv. 113.
"The Romans compell'd them .. contrary to all Federal Right and Justice .. to part with Sardinia."
In 1789, G. WHITE Selborne (1853) 336.
"Not so the Sage:
Inspired with Pious Awe,
He hails the Federal Arch."
In 1825, T. JEFFERSON Autobiog. Wks. 1859 I. 15.
"Our Connection had been Federal only, and was now dissolved by the commencement of hostilities."
-1. b) Of or pertaining to, or of the nature of, that form of Government in which two or more States constitute a Political Unity while remaining more or less Independent with regard to their Internal Affairs. This sense arises from the contextual meaning of phrases like "Federal Union", etc.
In 1707, SETON Sp. in Sc. Parlt. in Parl. Hist. VI. App. 142.
"Sweden and Denmark were united by a Federal Compact under one Monarch."
In 1777, ROBERTSON Hist. Amer. (1783) II. 197.
"The celebrated League, that united the Five Nations in Canada into a Federal Republic."
In 1787, J. BARLOW Oration 4 July 8.
"The establishment of a permanent Federal System."
In 1832, LEWIS Use & Ab. Pol. Terms x. 88.
"A Federal Government is when an Union is formed between Several States."
In 1837, J. C. CALHOUN Wks. III. 166.
"The party who believed that this was a Federal Republic."
In 1851, H. MARTINEAU Hist. Peace (1877) III. V. xii. 449.
"The scheme of constituting a Federal Union of the British North American provinces."
In 1874, STUBBS Const. Hist. (1875) I. ii. 26.
"There was not .. any Federal Bond among the Several Tribes."
-1. c) Of or pertaining to the Political Unity so constituted, as distinguished from the Separate States composing it.
In 1789, T. JEFFERSON Writ. (1859) II. 576.
"They have passed a Bill rendering every person holding any Federal Office incapable of holding at the same time any State Office."
In 1796, WASHINGTON Let. Writings 1892 XIII. 342.
"One or other of the Proprietors in the Federal City."
In 1844, THIRLWALL Greece VIII. lxi. 83.
"The Federal Sovereignty resided in the General Assembly."
In 1876, MATHEWS Coinage xxi. 198.
"It was not until several years after the Declaration of Independence (1776) that a Federal Coinage was issued.
In 1891, Speaker 11 July 36/1.
"Into both Federal and Cantonal Legislation the Referendum has been introduced."
As a verb: Federalize
The action of federating or uniting in a League or Convenant. Chiefly (- and specifically) the formation of a political unity out of a number of separate states, provinces, or colonies, so that each retains the management of its internal affairs; a similar process applied to a number of separate societies, etc.
-> 1721-1800 BAILEY,
"Federation, a Covenanting."
-> 1867 FREEMAN Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iii. 98.
"There must have been, if not Centralization, at any rate something like Federation."
-> 1888 SIR C. G. DUFFY in Contemp. Rev. Jan. 27.
"If Federation of the Colonies be partly accomplished."
John Adams to H. Niles, February 13, 1818.
But what do we mean by the American Revolution? Do we mean the American war?
The Revolution was effected before the war commenced.
The Revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people; a change in their religious sentiments of their duties and obligations. ...
The colonies had grown up under constitutions of government so different, there was so great a variety of religions, they were composed of so many different nations, their customs, manners, and habits had so little resemblance, and their intercourse had been so rare, and their knowledge of each other so imperfect, that to unite them in the same principles in theory and the same system of action, was certainly a very difficult enterprise.
The complete accomplishment of it, in so short a time and by such simple means, was perhaps a singular example in the history of mankind. Thirteen clocks were made to strike together -- a perfection of mechanism, which no artist had ever before effected.
